3 dead in plane crash at airport in west Georgia
Feb 23, 2014, 3:50 AM
LAGRANGE, Ga. (AP) – Three people were fatally injured Saturday when a small plane crashed at an airport in west Georgia.
Two occupants of the plane died on the scene and one died later at a hospital in Columbus, according to LaGrange Fire Department Lt. Chris Taylor.
LaGrange police identified them as 60-year-old Vincent Michael Rossetti; 69-year-old Willy Lutz; and 53-year-old Jeffery Van Curtis. All three were from nearby Peachtree City.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the twin-engine Beechcraft Baron aircraft crashed at LaGrange-Callaway Airport in LaGrange. She said three people were aboard.
The plane was registered to Executive Aircraft Storage LLC based in Peachtree City, according to FAA online records.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating what caused the crash.
Taylor told the LaGrange Daily News (
http://bit.ly/1bXD91k) the plane nosedived into the ground at 2:07 p.m. He said federal officials would be on the scene all weekend.
The LaGrange newspaper reported that several people at the airport said the Beechcraft was practicing touch-and-go maneuvers on one runway and a second plane towing a glider was moving down another intersecting runway.
A photo from the LaGrange Daily News shows the crashed airplane intact, with its badly-damaged nose in the ground and its fuselage and tail section in the air.
LaGrange is about 65 miles southwest of Atlanta.
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