The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

State, national, world

Related Photos

  • The front end of a Hawker Beachcraft Premier jet sits in a room of a home on Iowa Street in South Bend, Ind., Sunday, March 17, 2013. (AP Photo/South Bend Tribune, Mike Hartman)

    South Bend Crash_Hass.jpg

Discussion

March 17, 2013

2 killed when jet crashes in Indiana neighborhood

By Tom Coyne Associated Press

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A private jet apparently experiencing mechanical trouble crashed Sunday in a northern Indiana neighborhood, hitting three homes and killing two people aboard the plane, authorities and witnesses said.

The Beechcraft Premier I twin-jet had left Tulsa, Okla.’s Riverside Airport and crashed near South Bend Regional Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Roland Herwig in Oklahoma City said. Two of four people aboard the plane were killed, Herwig said.

It was not clear if anyone on the ground was killed, and Herwig did not have any additional information.

South Bend Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Maggie Scroope said three people injured when the plane crashed were being treated there; one was in serious condition and two were in fair condition. Scoope did not know if they were on the plane or the ground.

The plane was registered to 7700 Enterprises of Montana LLC in Helena, Mont. The company is owned by Wes Caves and does business as DigiCut Systems in Tulsa, Okla. It makes window film and paint overlay for automobiles.

A woman identifying herself as Caves’ wife answered the phone at their home Sunday and said, “I think he’s dead,” before hanging up.

In South Bend, Assistant Fire Chief John Corthier said the presence of jet fuel from the aircraft made the situation “very dangerous,” Corthier said. The plane was lodged inside a house.

“It’s still a rescue operation,” Corthier said about three hours after the crash. Referring to one of the damaged houses, he said, “Because of the collapse in the house it’s a very dangerous situation. We have to shore up the house before we can enter the house. “

Part of the neighborhood southwest of the airport was evacuated. Buses transported up to 200 people to a nearby shelter, Red Cross volunteer Jackie Lincoln said.

Mike Daigle, executive director of the St. Joseph County Airport Authority, said the jet attempted a landing, went back up and maneuvered south to try another landing, but eight minutes later the airport learned the plane was no longer airborne.

“There was an indication of a mechanical problem,” Herwig said.

Stan Klaybor, who lives across the street from the crash scene, said the jet clipped the top of one house, heavily damaged a second, and finally came to rest against a third. Neighbors did not know if a woman living in the most heavily damaged house was home at the time, and a young boy in the third house did not appear to be seriously injured, Klaybor said.

“Her little boy was in the kitchen and he got nicked here,” Klaybor said, pointing to his forehead.

His wife, Mary Jane, regularly watches planes approach the airport.

“I was looking out my picture window. The plane’s coming, and I go, ‘Wait a minute,’ and then, boom,” she said.

“This one was coming straight at my house. I went, ‘Huh?’ and then there was a big crash, and all the insulation went flying,” she said.



Associated Press writer Chuck Bartels in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

Text Only
State, national, world
Featured Ads
AP Video
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor Okla. Teens Get Video of Deadly Tornado Overhead Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones 9-year-old Tornado Victim Loved Family, Singing Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage Okla. City Mayor: Up to 13K Homes Hit by Tornado Raw: Aftermath of Deadly Attack in London Paperless Scanner, Vision of the Future Florida FBI Shooting Has Boston Bombing Links Garcetti Elected Los Angeles Mayor Over Greuel Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado IRS Official Pleads 5th Amendment Lawyer: Feds Investigating Susan Powell Case
NDN Video
AK-47-wielding thug may be the most bumbling crook ever Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage Trout's cycle a boost for Angels Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado Kim Kardashian Flaunts Pregnant Bikini Body in Greece NBA star pledges $1M to help tornado recovery Shakira's Shocking Talent Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air GRAPHIC: Blood-Soaked Machete Killer Caught on Tape Elin Nordegren Furious With Lindsey Vonn For Parading Kids in Public Camera Captures Climber As He Loses Grip And Falls Helen Mirren Meets with Dying Boy in Queen Elizabeth's Place Crowd Chants '¡Si, Se Puede!' After Passage of Immigration Bill DWTS Crowns a Winner Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff Demi Moore a Rocks Bikini at Harry Morton's Family House Anthony Weiner: I'm running for New York City mayor Kate Middleton's Dress Flies Up VIRAL: Baby makes epic soccer goal The Hangover Baby All Grown Up