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Updated Oct. 4 at 4:51 p.m.
DEWITT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Authorities on Friday released the names of the Indiana men who were killed or injured in a small plane crash near a central Michigan airport.
Timothy Clark, 67, John Lowe, 51, and Neil Sego, 46, died Thursday morning, the Clinton County sheriff's office said in a news release. Joel Beavins, 48, Aaron Blackford, 42, and Zechariah Bennett, 27, remain in critical condition at a Michigan hospital.
Clark was from Franklin, Lowe was from Greenwood and Sego was from Trafalgar, which are all south of Indianapolis in Johnson County. Beavins is from Franklin, Blackford is from Frankton and Bennett is from Plainfield.
Federal Aviation Administration records show that Clark had a commercial pilot certificate since 2010 and Beavins has had one since May 8, but authorities haven't said who was piloting and co-piloting the single-engine plane, which crashed about 9 a.m. Thursday outside Capital Region International Airport in DeWitt Township. The plane had taken off earlier from Indy South Greenwood Airport, near Indianapolis.
Commercial pilot certificates are the same as pilot licenses and the status of their certificates is part of the ongoing crash investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, according to the FAA.
The four passengers worked for Indiana contracting companies and were traveling to Lansing, Michigan, to meet with a local utility about an energy park project.
"On behalf of the entire workforce at the Lansing Board of Water & Light, I extend my most sincere condolences to the victims and families of those involved in Thursday's plane crash," Board of Water & Light general manager Dick Peffley said in a statement. "I know this is a difficult time for those BWL employees who worked with their team, and grief services are being made available."
Bennett works for Indianapolis-based Patterson-Horth, the construction company's co-founder said in an email to the Lansing State Journal.
"Zech Bennett is a valued employee and always has a positive attitude and smile on his face," Tim Horth said. "This news has devastated all the employees of Patterson-Horth. We pray for his recovery and those others impacted by this accident."
Original post Oct. 3, 2019
DEWITT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Three people died and three others were injured when a single-engine plane heading from Indianapolis crashed Thursday near Capital Region International Airport in mid-Michigan, authorities said.
The six-passenger plane was on its way to the Lansing-area airport when it went down about 9 a.m.
“I know that it was coming in on the approach and that’s when something went wrong,” airport spokesman Spencer Flynn said.
The plane was at capacity and included a pilot and co-pilot, said Clinton County Sheriff Larry Jerue. Names of those onboard weren’t immediately released.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the Socata TBM 700 plane left Indy South Greenwood Airport at 8 a.m. Thursday, according to WRTV-TV. The station reported that the FAA registry lists the plane as being owned by a Greenwood, Indiana, company.
The airport received an emergency alert from the plane, said airport public safety and operations chief Eric Patrick. He wasn’t sure if the alert came before or after the crash.
The plane was largely intact at the crash site and Patrick said the plane wasn’t part of scheduled commercial service at the airport.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Authority were heading Thursday to the area.
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