Names have been released for the victims of the private plane crash tragedy that occurred near Anderson, Indiana, on Friday morning. The jet took off from Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
Madison County Coroner Adam Matson identified the four victims as Joseph R. Scallon, 68, of Iowa Falls; Braden Hicks, 36, of Manson; Jesse H. Ostheimer, 31, of Alden; and “Owen” James Renaud, 19, of Iowa Falls.
Hicks was a private pilot instructor out of Fort Dodge Regional Airport. Director of aviation Rhonda Chambers said that Hicks was “not a city employee, but was a much loved member of the airport family and will be forever missed” at the Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
The Fort Dodge single-engine Piper PA-46 took off at 6:48 AM and crashed near Anderson Municipal Airport-Darlington Field, northeast of Indianapolis, at 9:52 AM Eastern.
Okoboji Air LLC, a business that Scallon has on file with the Iowa Secretary of State, was the owner of the aircraft. The aircraft was not typically maintained at Fort Dodge Regional Airport on Friday, according to Chambers.
According to the Madison County Sheriff’s Department (Ind.), when rescue workers arrived to a corn field adjacent to the airport at around ten in the morning, the plane was on fire.
Darwin Dwiggins of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department (Ind.) said the pilot of the aircraft was advised to divert and make another approach to the airport because they were too high. Dwiggins claims that after the plane “flipped over” and nose-dived into a cornfield, it caught fire, as reported by witnesses to the police. The pilot seemed like he was trying to return to the airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the tragedy.