Plane crash near Ohio airport leaves three dead; federal authorities investigating

VIENNA, Ohio (AP) — A plane attempting to make an emergency landing at a northeast Ohio airport crashed, killing all three people on board, authorities said.

The twin-engine Beechcraft 60 crashed near Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Ohio at around 6:45 p.m. on Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Saturday.

Notified shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, the Ohio State Highway Patrol post in Trumbull County said the pilot and two passengers were killed in the crash north of the airport. The victims’ families have already been notified and names will be released later, an official said.

“Mechanical failure is suspected and it was reported that the aircraft attempted an emergency landing” before crashing “near one of the runways” in Fowler Township, the Warren Highway Patrol office said in a news release Saturday afternoon.

Anthony Trevena, executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority, said the plane had come from Plattsburgh, New York, but officials did not immediately know where it was headed. He was told the victims were a man, a woman and a child.

Trevena said it appeared the plane’s left engine failed and it missed the approach to land and flew back to re-approach but veered out of control and crashed near the north end of the runway. Firefighters from the Youngstown Air Reserve Station at the airport worked with local rescue crews to bring the fire under control, he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident, the FAA said in a statement. State police officers are being assisted at the scene by local police and fire departments as well as the county sheriff’s office, the Highway Patrol said.

The Associated Press