Five members of one family — including two young boys — were killed Sunday when a small airplane crashed soon after taking off from an upstate New York airport.
Georgia residents Roger Beggs, 76, Laura Van Epps, 43, Ryan Van Epps, 42, James R. Van Epps, 12, and Harrison Van Epps, 10, had all been upstate for a baseball tournament in Cooperstown, officials said Monday.
Five people were on board the craft when it crashed. WICZThey were killed when the single-engine Piper Malibu Mirage taking them home crashed at about 2 p.m. Sunday in Masonville soon after taking off from Albert S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta, state police said.
They were discovered after a “multi-agency” search using “drones, ATV’s and helicopters led to the discovery of debris and ultimately to the downed aircraft,” state police said in the update.
All five were members of the same family, police said.
The plane crashed near the village of Sidney after taking off from Oneonta Sunday. Flightradar24Online records show that Beggs has had a private pilot’s license for 10 years allowing him to fly single-engine planes. It was not immediately clear if the plane that crashed was his own.
His address is listed as being in Roswell in suburban Atlanta, where his relatives also live, according to social media posts by mom Laura who regularly showed off photos of her young sons.
Officials are still investigating what caused Sunday’s crash. WICZIt was not immediately clear who owned the plane, which was headed to West Virginia to refuel before setting off to its final destination, Cobb County International Airport in Atlanta, police said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash which is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
