5 killed in small plane crash near Bloomington

Saturday, April 22, 2006

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - A small plane crashed in foggy conditions, killing all five people aboard, and police said Friday they believed the victims included Indiana University students.

Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Joe Watts said police believe IU students were aboard the plane when it crashed late Thursday, but he did not identify them because police were still notifying next of kin. A female was piloting with four male passengers aboard, and at least one person was from Indiana, police said.

IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said he could not confirm reports that the victims were students in the university's renowned School of Music.

However, many students gathered at the entrance to the music school's administration building late Friday morning were teary-eyed and consoling each other.

Alain Barker, a spokesman for the music school, sent an e-mail to students Friday urging them not to talk to the media about the crash.

‘‘With the very sad news this morning, we are particularly concerned to first confirm who was involved in the accident,'' Barker wrote. ‘‘We then have an obligation to make sure that the next-of-kin are notified before anything goes to the press.''

Eugene O'Brien, executive associate dean of the music school, declined comment.

‘‘We don't know anything at this point, and we can't say anything until we're sure,'' he said.

The single-engine Cessna took off from Lafayette, about 90 miles northwest of Bloomington, Thursday night and disappeared from radar about 11:40 p.m., according to state police. Authorities said the pilot activated the lights at the airport from the cockpit but never landed.

Several 911 callers described ‘‘the spit and sputtering of an airplane'' and the sound of ‘‘extreme acceleration unusual for a plane coming in for a landing,'' said Mike Cornman, deputy fire chief in Van Buren Township. Some reported hearing a loud boom.

Emergency crews found the badly damaged craft upside down in the woods just south of the Monroe County Airport about 4:15 a.m. EDT, police said. There was no fire, police said.

Clouds were 100 feet off the ground and visibility was 1 mile at the time, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Puma in Indianapolis.

Rain and fog hindered efforts to launch a search by helicopter. Cornman said the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board would investigate the cause of the crash.

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