WINDHAM, Conn. — Four people are dead after a plane taking off in Vermont crashed late Sunday, officials said. Sources close to the investigation said a teacher and student from Middletown High School were among the those killed. The aircraft originated from Connecticut.
According to Vermont State Police, the four-seat, single-engine Piper plane departed Windham Airport in Connecticut around 8:30 a.m. Sunday and flew to Basin Harbor Airport in Ferrisburgh, Vermont.
Vermont State Police have identified the victims.
- Paul Pelletier, 55, of Columbia
- Frank Rodriquez, 88, of Lebanon
- Susan Van Ness, 51, of Middletown
- Delilah Van Ness, 15, of Middletown
Pelletier is a teacher at Middletown High and Delilah Van Ness is a student there according to sources. Middletown police said Susan was Delilah's mother. Susan was Chief of Programs, for the National Diaper Bank Network
Pelletier was an aerospace teacher at Middletown Public Schools, he ran a program for first responders to learn how to fly drones in the "Drones and Flight Science Class."
Police said Pelletier was giving flight lessons to Delilah.
Relatives reported the plane missing around 7:15 p.m. Police obtained the last known location of the occupants’ cell phones and determined that location to be in the area of the Basin Harbor Airport.
FOX61's Jim Altman did a story in June about the program.
In the story Middletown High sophomore Delilah Van Ness, 15, said she administered the quizzes to the first responder students.
“We grade them to see how they are doing and what they need to work on,” Van Ness said.
The two-week course has a dozen people learning everything from maneuvering a drone safely and securely to taking pictures and shooting video.
Officials said the plane landed, and the occupants went to Basin Harbor for brunch. Shortly after noon, the party departed the restaurant to return to Connecticut.
A witness reported seeing the airplane on the runway around 12:15 p.m. Officials said there had been no reports indicating an aircraft in distress or that it had crashed.
Hours later, however, the plane failed to return to Connecticut as expected.
After obtaining the cellphone location data, Middletown police then notified Vermont State Police of the situation around 10:20 p.m. Troopers from the New Haven, Vermont barracks responded along with the Middlebury, Vermont police and the Ferrishburgh Fire Department.
With the help of a drone search, they found the aircraft's wreckage around 12:20 a.m. Monday in a wooded area just to the east of the airport.
The FAA and NTSB are leading the investigation into why the plane crashed.
The NTSB said in an email, "The preliminary information we have is the plane crashed under unknown circumstances one-half mile south of the Basin Harbor Airport.
"An NTSB investigator is en route to the scene and is expected to arrive tomorrow morning. Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation."
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Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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