WORLD> America
|
WORLD> America
|
|
8 killed after small jet crashes in Minnesota
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-01 10:10 OWATONNA - A small jet crashed Thursday while preparing to land at a regional airport in Minnesota, killing eight people, including casino and construction executives.
But by late evening, Department of Public Safety spokesman Doug Neville said it had been confirmed that eight people were on board. The plane was carrying two pilots. Seven people were dead at the scene. One died later at a hospital. The charter jet, flying from Atlantic City, N.J., to Owatonna, a town of 25,000, went down in a cornfield northwest of Degner Regional Airport, Sheriff Gary Ringhofer said. The wreckage was not visible to reporters because tall corn obscured the crash site. The debris was scattered 500 feet beyond the airport's runway. Late Thursday, the Dakota County coroner was on the scene working to identify victims. A National Transportation Safety Board investigating team will look at a variety of factors, such as the plane structure and weather, said John Lovell, the investigator in charge. A cockpit voice recorder and a flight management system were recovered and sent to be analyzed, the NTSB said. Cameron Smith, a mechanic at the airport, said he spoke by radio with the jet's pilot just minutes before the crash. The pilot was about to land and was asking where he should park for fuel, Smith said. He ran to the crash scene to see if anyone could be helped, but saw only a long skid path and debris that he described as "shredded." He said: "There was no fuselage. There were just parts." |
