Three people have tragically lost their lives after a plane came crashing to the ground in Victoria, Minnesota, and burst into flames, The Sun reports.
On Saturday, August 7, at around 5:45 PM local time, a surgeon from Omaha, Nebraska, and two of his relatives from Wyoming died in the crash. The single-engine plane had crashed into a home, however, no one on the ground was injured.
The pilot, 72-year-0ld Dr. James Edney, a professor of surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, died alongside 42-year-old Jacob Mertes and his wife 37-year-old Sara Mertes.
Per the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the plane departed the Alexandria Municipal Airport, with the intention of landing at Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie when it sadly crashed into a vacant lot and a home.
According to the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB), investigators believe the plane was a Mooney M20M aircraft. An investigation is currently underway in order to determine the cause of the crash.
Robert Katz, a 40-year aviation veteran, certified flight instructor, and commercial pilot, has analyzed the deadly incident, listening to the audio communication between the pilot and traffic control in the lead up to the crash and watching video footage taken immediately after it occurred.
He told Star Tribune: "It's an absolute miracle that no one on the ground was hurt by this. Listening to audio of the pilot, he was clearly in trouble. I believe that as he was descending, he became disoriented in the clouds."
Mike Folkerts, NTSB air safety investigator for the central region, confirmed that three people had died during the crash and shared his condolences to the loved ones of the deceased.
Folkerts also revealed that Dr. Edney did not make a distress call but instead contacted the control tower for normal landing. He did, however, make a number of deviations from the planned route.
"Our hearts go out to them," he added.
A preliminary report on the crash will be released in about two weeks and the full report will take at least a year to complete.
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