Junior Senator Hillary Clinton narrowly escaped  injury in the aircraft that she was piloting when she was forced to make an emergency landing  in Southern New Jersey because of bad weather.

National Transportation Safety Board officials  have issued a preliminary determination that pilot error contributed to the accident, and that the senator was flying a single engine aircraft in IFR [instrument flight rating] conditions while only having obtained a VFR (visual flight rating) level of flight capability.

The absence of a post-crash fire was likely due to insufficient fuel on board. No one on the ground was injured.

Photographs taken at the scene show the extent  of damage to Senator Clinton's aircraft.  She was very lucky.