Gerry Niewood (pictured with sax) and Coleman Mellett (pictured with Chuck Mangione), musicians with the Grammy-award winning Chuck Mangione Band, were killed last night in a plane crash near Buffalo, N.Y. Continental Connection Flight 3407, which was operated by Colgan Air, was en route from Newark, N.J. to Buffalo when it crashed into a house in Clarence, N.Y., about five miles from the airport. All 49 crew members and passengers on board were killed, as well as one person in the house.

The Chuck Mangione Band was scheduled to perform tonight at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The show has been postponed
In a statement, Mangione said, “I’m in shock over the horrible, heartbreaking tragedy of the crash of Flight 3407 which took the lives of my dear friends and band members Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett. I am grieving and praying with their families and friends. That’s all I can say for now.”
Please keep the families of the victims in your prayers.
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