Two died in Fayette airplane crash
Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly has identified the two people killed in a single-engine airplane crash in Jefferson Township as a husband and wife from the Boston, Massachusetts area. Reilly identified those killed in the Thursday evening crash as Henry and Joann Lorenzetti. Jim Peters of the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the deceased were related. “It’s sad for the family,” he said. Peters said Henry Lorenzetti was piloting the plane and his wife was a passenger.
The BE24 Musketeer Super Sierra plane was traveling from Lawrence, Mass. to Washington, Pa. at approximately 6:45 p.m. Thursday when the crash occurred. The National Transportation Safety Board is handling the investigation. The cause of the accident is unknown, although severe weather was present at the time of the crash. Reilly said witness accounts saw “a breakup of the plane and the passenger fell out.” He said the pilot was found inside the wreckage of the plane.
Both the pilot and passenger died of tremendous blunt force trauma injuries, Reilly said. No wallets were found with the bodies and a full autopsy was scheduled for Saturday in Pittsburgh. Positive identification will be slow due to the condition of the bodies, Reilly said.
Reilly said a local man who was a brother-in-law to Henry Lorenzetti reported that the pilot had years of flying experience.
According to a preliminary accident report filed by the FAA, the pilot twice reported encountering severe turbulence prior to the crash, although the plane crashed “under unknown circumstances and was destroyed.” Reilly said witness accounts indicate that something happened to the plane before it struck any trees on the ground and a wing sheared off. Although earlier reports indicated a helicopter may have been involved in the crash, Reilly said a helicopter arrived on the scene to help locate wreckage after the crash occurred.
The plane was registered to the Raytheon Employees Flying Club of Revere, Mass., Peters said. The club has no connection to the Lexington, Mass. based defense contractor but the club’s members are either employees, friends or family members of employees.
The fuselage of the plane landed along Laurel Dale Road and wing sections were scattered along Stuckslager Road.
Roland Herwick of the FAA public information office in Oklahoma said the plane had “no prior accidents or incidents.”
Near the scene of the crash, several broken treetops were noticeable on the horizon. A number of witnesses described a burst of high winds that swept through the area as the plane fell from the sky. Although baby items were found around the crash site, Reilly said it is believed that only the pilot and passenger were on board the plane.
The last time a small plane crashed in Jefferson Township, a 1973 experimental aircraft registered to Rudolf E. Vogelsberger of Pittsburgh crashed into a tree when attempting a second takeoff. The cause of the crash was that the pilot inadvertently turned off the fuel switch. The plane sustained substantial damage to the wings. That crash occurred in a field near Fayette City.