Small Plane crashes in Gary Indiana

I just missed seeing this. I've been stuck here in Indiana, at the school for the company that I'm working for. We were on the school's bus heading back to the hotel, leaving the school at 11am. About 20 minutes later, we were at the Greyhound station in Gary dropping off someone that was catching a bus somewhere, when we started hearing sirens, and seeing police cars. As we left the station, we saw smoke coming up from the woods, with a helicopter circling nearby, and the police with the road blocked off.

Later in the evening, I was watching the news, and they said that a small plane was flying into Gary, from Tennessee, and was expected to land around 1130am, when it disappeared. It was found to have crashed into the woods, 200 yards from a school, behind a shopping center. The wreckage covered about a 40 foot area, and the crash killed the pilot. There is a report that there was a passenger on board, and the fire department spokesperson reported finding two burned up bodies in the area.

GARY | At least one person is confirmed dead following the crash of a small plane Wednesday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Personnel from the Gary police and fire departments, the Lake County coroner's office and Lake County Sheriff's Department were on the scene of the crash, which was reported to authorities about 11:20 a.m. The crash happened in a wooded area east of 7th Avenue and Clark Road, near the West Gary Lighthouse Charter School and Preparatory Academy and the city-owned Brunswick Center.

One person was on board the Cirrus SR22, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory told The Times. However, Gary Fire Department Capt. Don Parker, a first responder, said during a news conference it appeared at least two people were on board.

Gary Fire Chief Teresa Everett said the four-seat aircraft was en route to Gary after leaving Smyrna, Tenn., at 9:25 a.m. Wednesday. Gary fire personnel worked to extinguish flames after the crash and worked to contain the scene. The Gary/Chicago International Airport is located about two miles northwest of where the crash happened.

Sour ce

That's too bad. I hope the pilot's family is doing okay. The Cirrus is a nice plane too. Here is the NTSB preliminary.

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** Notice created 10/4/2012 Notice 1 **
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IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 308PJ Make/Model: SR22 Description: SR-22
Date: 10/03/2012 Time: 1619

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
City: GARY State: IN Country: US

DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD WAS
FATALLY INJURED, NEAR GARY, IN

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:


OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER


FAA FSDO: SOUTH BEND, IN (GL17) Entry date: 10/04/2012

And here's the plane from the N Registery.

Reports are that there were two souls on board, both were killed instantly. They just missed two schools, one of which had 650 students in session at the time of the crash. The aircraft was owned by a company in Florida, and had come through Smyrna, TN.