The Associated Press reports that New York junior, Senator Hillary Clinton, narrowly escaped injury in the aircraft that she w as 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 plane in IFR [instrument flight rating] conditions while only having obtained a VFR [visual flight rating] rating.

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.