MASONVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — 5 members of a household from Georgia, together with a former insurance coverage analyst, who had been visiting Cooperstown, New York, for a baseball match died when their small aircraft crashed in a rural, wooded space, authorities mentioned.
The one-engine Piper PA-46 crashed round 2 p.m. Sunday after taking off from a regional airport in Oneonta, the Federal Aviation Administration mentioned in a press release.
The wreckage of the aircraft and the stays of the 5 individuals on board had been discovered Sunday night time within the city of Masonville, the New York State Police mentioned in a information launch. Drones, all-terrain automobiles and helicopters had been used to seek for the distant crash web site, which is about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of New York Metropolis.
The victims had been recognized as Roger Beggs, 76; Laura Van Epps, 42; Ryan Van Epps, 42; James Van Epps, 12; and Harrison Van Epps, 10, all of Milton, Georgia. Ryan Van Epps managed High Rail Fence, a fence design and set up firm, in north Georgia, in accordance with information experiences and a press launch posted by the corporate. He beforehand was a enterprise analyst at Van Epps Insurance coverage Advisory and Administrative Providers in Roswell, a agency owned by his father, his Linkedin web page reveals.
The agency offers design and enrollment work for bank-owned and corporate-owned life insurance coverage merchandise.
The household was returning to Georgia after watching the 12-year-old boy’s baseball staff play in a match in Cooperstown, the house of the Baseball Corridor of Fame.
“It’s only a huge tragedy for our household and the top of 5 nice lives, particularly younger lives,” Jim Van Epps mentioned of the lack of his son, his daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
Jim Van Epps informed The Related Press that his grandsons, who lived within the Atlanta suburb of Milton, had been doing distinctive in class and in sports activities, with 10-year-old Harrison an up-and-coming lacrosse participant.
“Ryan and Laura supported their boys in no matter endeavor they needed to do,” he mentioned.
On-line data present that Beggs held a pilot’s license. Jim Van Epps mentioned Laura Van Epps’ father had volunteered to fly the household to upstate New York and watched the match with them.
The aircraft was headed to Cobb County Worldwide Airport in Atlanta with a fueling cease in West Virginia when it crashed, the state police mentioned.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp mentioned on the social media platform X that he and his household had been praying for the victims’ households and supplied “our deepest condolences to all who knew and beloved them.”
The FAA and the Nationwide Transportation Security Board are investigating the crash.
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