Cessna 303 down

[Cheebs501]

http://www.wndu.com/news/headlines/4637741.html

Four people are dead after a small plane crash in LaPorte County.
The plane went down near 200 North and 925 East after taking off from South Bend Regional Airport.
F.A.A. controller’s lost radar and radio contact with the 303 Cessna shortly after 8PM.
The Cessna 303, also called the Crusader, is a twin engine aircraft that holds a pilot and five passengers.
It has a maximum speed of 250 miles an hour.
It is a little over 30 feet long and has a wing span of 39 feet.
NTSB investigators are on their way to the crash site.
Officials say the plane was headed to Iowa and registered to CPRT Investment, a company based out of Iowa.

 

[timeless]

Last night while I was waiting for my freight to show up in Ankeny, IA the line guy said that ATC had called him twice to see if a Cessna 303 had arrived. I didn't think much of it until I saw this post.

 

[Cheebs501]

November 14. 2006 11:15AM

Iowa woman thinks husband was pilot of plane that crashed

LaPorte County accident claimed five lives


Tribune Staff Report

An Iowa woman believes her husband was the pilot aboard the plane that crashed in LaPorte County on Monday night, and a spokesman for an Iowa firm said that four company employees were also on the plane.

Tami Trewet of Atlantic, Iowa, said her husband, attorney John Mitch Trewet, was flying some friends to and from a business meeting as a favor.

Trewet said Tuesday morning that officials had not yet confirmed whether her husband was one of the crash victims. She last talked to him about 12:30 p.m. Monday, more than seven hours before the plane took off from South Bend Regional Airport. “He was killing time while he was waiting,” she said. “He was talking about our kids and his flight.”

The couple has a 13-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, she said.

According to WSBT-TV, a spokesman for Des Moines, Iowa-based Two Rivers Marketing said four company employees were on the plane, which he said had flown to South Bend on business. The spokesman said the company was not immediately releasing names to the media on Tuesday morning because it still was notifying families of the victims, WSBT reported.

Meanwhile, authorities from LaPorte County and the National Transportation Safety Board this morning resumed efforts to recover the remains of five crash victims in LaPorte County.

Initial reports said there were four victims, but LaPorte County Police said this morning there was a fifth victim. Authorities did not say if the fifth victim was a passenger on the plane.

The Cessna 303 went down in a cornfield in the area of county roads 200 North and 925 East.

LaPorte County Chief Deputy Coroner John Sullivan said some of the remains were recovered last night, but because of darkness, the attempt to recover all of the remains was halted until this morning.

He said all 12 deputy coroners with the coroner's office will be out scouring the crash site covering a 3- to 4-acre radius.

Sullivan said he's also hopeful of making a positive identification of all the victims today.

“We will go with tattoos, possible body piercings and obviously there should be some identification at the scene, some wallets, some driver's licenses. We may have to go with DNA testing. In a deal like this, you have to do the best you can,” Sullivan said.

The Associated Press reported the plane was traveling to Ankeny, Iowa, with four people aboard, according to the flight plan filed with the FAA.

FAA records showed the plane was registered to CPRT Investment Inc. of Atlantic, Iowa.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061114/News01/61114011