Ex-Microsoft exec Bill Henningsgaard and son dead in Connecticut plane crash which claimed up to six lives

A FORMER Microsoft executive and his son were among about six people killed after a plane crashed into two houses as it tried to land at a nearby Connecticut airport on Friday.

A family member has confirmed ex-Microsoft exec Bill Henningsgaard and his son Maxwell, 17, were killed when their small plane crashed at 11.25am Friday (1.25am Saturday AEST).

Blair Henningsgaard said his brother and nephew were travelling the East Coast to visit colleges, and Connecticut was part of the itinerary. He says the family leaed it was his brother's plane through the tail number.

Bill Henningsgaard was a member of Seattle-based Social Venture Partners foundation, which extended its condolences to his wife and two daughters.

The multi-engine, propeller-driven plane struck two small homes, which burst into flames, a few blocks from Tweed New Haven Airport as it came in to land.

The remains of a multiengine Rockwell Inteational Turbo Commander 690B extend from the rear of a single family home in East Haven, Connecticut

Firefighters work at the scene of the plane crash. Picture: AP

Authorities have said as many as six people could have died in the crash, including two children, aged one and 13, in one of the homes.

The children's mother managed to escape, but witnesses said she was screaming that her kids were inside the buing home.

The other home was empty.

Tweed's airport manager said the pilot, Henningsgaard, had been speaking to air traffic control but did not issue any distress calls.

"All we know is that it missed the approach and continued on," said Lori Hoffman-Soares.

"There were no distress calls as far as we know,'' Fox News reports.

With agencies