Sheriff: 2 killed in small plane crash in western New York

Authorities say two people are dead following a small plane crash in western New York

Plane Crash Western New York (Spectrum News Buffalo)

Two people died Friday when a small plane connected to a law firm known on two coasts for its catchy TV jingle crashed in western New York authorities said.

The single-engine Socata TBM-700, which crashed about 11:45 a.m. in a wooded area near Pembroke New York, was registered to a corporation that shares an address with Cellino & Barnes, a personal injury law firm with offices in New York and California.

Genesee County Sheriff William Sheron told reporters a man and a woman were killed and there were no survivors. He did not identify the victims.

Neighbors described the plane making a loud, whining noise, then dropping into a wooded area, Sheron said.

Cellino & Barnes began as small firm in Buffalo but became well known in New York City and beyond for its ubiquitous advertising on billboards and on television.

Its old-time jingle, in which the law firm's phone number was put to song, has been the subject of a sketch on Saturday Night Live, and other late-night TV host jokes for years. Broadway actors in 2018 posted viral videos of themselves singing the jingle in what was dubbed the “Cellino & Barnes Challenge.”

The firm declined to comment on the crash.

The law firm's principal lawyers, Ross Cellino and Stephen Barnes, who appeared together in the advertisements, had a falling out in recent years and battled each other in court.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the cause of the crash. NTSB spokesman Terry Williams said the agency would release its initial report within seven to 10 days.