Plane Goes Down in NY - Emergency Response Underway
Five individuals lost their lives on Sunday in Upstate New York when their single-engine plane crashed in Delaware County's rural area.
The victims were a family from Georgia who were visiting New York for a baseball tournament in Cooperstown and flying a Piper PA-46 aircraft.
The plane departed from an airport in Oneonta, New York, around 2 p.m. after refueling, headed for West Virginia for another refueling stop, and was scheduled to land in Atlanta later that day.
Unfortunately, the aircraft never reached its destination.
According to The New York Times, the aircraft made several distress calls just before crashing near the village of Sidney, about 40 miles from Binghamton.
Five members of the same family who had been traveling for a baseball tournament were killed when their small plane crashed in upstate New York on Sunday afternoon, the authorities said. https://t.co/GFsoEHGbBG
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 1, 2024
The wreckage was discovered on Sunday evening, and authorities confirmed that all passengers on board had died.
State police identified the deceased as Roger Beggs, 76; Laura VanEpps, 43; Ryan VanEpps, 42; James R. VanEpps, 12; and Harrison VanEpps, 10.
Cody Alcorn from WXIA-TV in Atlanta reported that all the victims were members of the same family.
A metro Atlanta family was killed in plane crash while on their way home from a baseball tournament in New York.
— Cody Alcorn (@CodyAlcorn) July 1, 2024
The victims were identified as:
▪️Roger Beggs, 76
▪️Laura VanEpps, 43
▪️Ryan VanEpps, 42
▪️James VanEpps, 12
▪️Harrison VanEpps, 10https://t.co/sfKntxAMJv
The Associated Press noted that helicopters and drones were employed to locate the downed aircraft.
The New York Times reported that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would hold a news conference about the incident on Monday evening.
As of now, the cause of the crash remains unknown.
The investigation will be led by the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with assistance from the New York State Police.
According to the NTSB’s website, the agency has investigated numerous fatal incidents involving PA-46 aircraft. During one period from May 31, 1989, to March 17, 1991, there were seven deadly crashes involving these planes in the U.S., Mexico, and Japan.
The Piper PA-46 aircraft have been in service since their introduction by Piper in 1979 and have been widely used since 1983.