Five members of a household from Georgia who had been visiting Cooperstown, New York, for a baseball match died when their small airplane crashed in a rural, wooded space, authorities mentioned Monday.
The single-engine Piper PA-46 crashed round 2 p.m. Sunday after taking off from a regional airport in Oneonta, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mentioned in an announcement.
The wreckage of the airplane and the stays of the 5 folks on board had been discovered Sunday night time within the city of Masonville, the New York State Police mentioned in a news launch. Drones, all-terrain automobiles and helicopters had been used to seek for the distant crash website, which is about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of New York City.
The victims had been recognized as Roger Beggs, 76; Laura Van Epps, 42; Ryan Van Epps, 42; James Van Epps, 12; and Harrison Van Epps, 10.
The household was returning to Georgia after watching the 12-year-old boy’s baseball group play in a match in Cooperstown, the house of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“It’s only a large tragedy for our household and the tip of 5 nice lives, particularly younger lives,” Jim Van Epps mentioned of the lack of his son, his daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
Jim Van Epps instructed The Associated Press (AP) that his grandsons, who lived within the Atlanta suburb of Milton, had been doing distinctive in class and sports activities with 10-year-old Harrison an up-and-coming lacrosse participant.
“Ryan and Laura supported their boys in no matter endeavor they wished to do,” he mentioned.
Online data present that Beggs held a pilot’s license. Jim Van Epps mentioned Laura Van Epps’ father had volunteered to fly the household to upstate New York and watched the match with them.
The airplane was headed to Cobb County International Airport in Atlanta after a fueling cease in West Virginia when it crashed, the state police mentioned.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp mentioned on the social media platform X that he and his household had been praying for the victims’ households and supplied “our deepest condolences to all who knew and cherished them.”
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
Source: www.dailysabah.com