2 killed in plane crash
JEFFERSON TWP. – Two people were killed when the single-engine plane they were flying in went down in a heavily wooded area near Brownsville Monday afternoon. Fayette County Deputy Coroner Marisa Springer said the identity of the two victims was not known Monday night, after officials halted their investigation until this morning.
Officials said that it was not clear whether the victims were male or female.
Springer also said that initial investigation of the plane, a Mooney M20F, did not appear to reveal any fire damage or serious structural damage, but did note that the aircraft appeared twisted.
Searchers deployed local medical helicopters to scour the woods where the plane went down, after no smoke or visible sign of an accident could be found.
After the fixed-wing plane painted cream with a red stripe was discovered, rescue workers used all-terrain vehicles to access the crash site and later employed a bulldozer to cut a roadway to the downed plane.
Arlene Murray, spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said the cause of the crash remained unknown late Monday as FAA officials arrived in Fayette County to investigate the scene.
Murray said the plane was a single-engine general aviation aircraft but officials had yet to determine where the plane took off from.
“Because it was a small plane it did not have to file a flight plan,” Murray said.
According to FAA records, the plane is co-owned by Dennis P. Bucci and Charles A. Schreiber, both of Pittsburgh.
Springer could not verify if either of the owners were involved in the crash.
Officials from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will assist local authorities in the investigation today.
The man who made the initial 911 call reporting the crash to Fayette County emergency officials at 3:12 p.m., and who wished to be identified only by his first name, Ed, said he was standing in his backyard after spending several hours hunting in the woods behind his home when he heard the plane fly over.
“It came over top of me and was just spiraling straight down and then it dipped behind that ridgeline and went belly-up,” Ed said.
According to the man who lives on Zazado Road, small planes frequent the skies over his home where pilots test there skills with maneuvers like rollovers and midair stalls.
However, Ed said he was sure that this time, the pilot was not conducting a drill or performing a stunt.
“I knew immediately that it was crashing,” Ed said. “I ran up the yard and asked those guys working over in the field if they saw what I saw and they said they did. Then I called 911.”
Volunteer firefighters from Grindstone shut down all roads leading into the crash site, which was located in a heavily wooded area about two miles off of Zazado Road in Jefferson Township.
According to the NTSB, 81 aviation accidents were reported worldwide in September, with all but 14 occurring in the United States.
One of the crashes, a Boeing 737 that went down in Brazil, killed 155 people. The remaining accidents that all involved smaller planes, resulted in 49 deaths, according to NTSB.
The FAA reports that there are 8,077 registered aircraft in the state of Pennsylvania.
Lycoming manufactured the Mooney M20F in 1967.
The FAA certified the plane that crashed in 1991, according to online records.
According to Fayette County 911, emergency personnel from Grindstone, Washington Township, Newell, Fayette City, Brownsville North Side and Connellsville Township volunteer fire departments, along with officials from the state police, the FAA, the Civil Air Patrol, the Fayette County Coroner’s office, Fayette EMS and Brownsville EMS responded to the crash site.