Continental Airlines Flight 3407 crashed into a house in Clarence Center, killing everyone on board the plane.

US airlines had gone 16 years without a fatal crash until Wednesday night. But as impressive as that safety record had been, there have been warning signs in recent years of a significant risk of a collision like the one that just killed 67 people.

The grim event recalls the last time a major airline crash occurred, when Flight 3407 departed from New Jersey nearly 16 years ago.