Pilot Crashes Into In-Laws' House

Brutuskend

Lifer
Apr 2, 2001
26,558
4
0
Pilot Crashes Into In-Laws' House
By Associated Press
2 hours ago

BEDFORD, Ind. - A pilot and his 8-year-old daughter were killed Monday when their small plane crashed into an in-law's house near a southern Indiana airport, authorities said.

Indiana State Police spokesman 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten said a preliminary crash investigation leads "us to believe that this was an intentional act."

The crash killed Eric Johnson, 47, of Bedford, and his daughter Emily, he said. The plane crashed into the residence of one of Johnson's in-laws, Vivian Pace, Bursten said.

Authorities will not know for sure whether the crash was intentional until the National Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation, which could take up to a year, Bursten said.

Earlier, before the pilot was identified as a relative, Pace told The Times-Mail newspaper that she was in the living room of her one-story home when the plane struck the side of the building. She said everything fell off the walls.

She said she had heard a plane making a "horrible noise" before the crash.

The 11 a.m. crash happened near Virgil I. Grissom Municipal Airport, about 20 miles south of Bloomington and where the plane had been leased, state police Cpl. Eric Dunn said.

Witnesses said the plane appeared to be trying to land when it veered sharply and went out of sight, the newspaper reported on its Web site.

There were no reports of injuries on the ground, though the impact left much of the plane lodged inside the house.

(An earlier version incorrectly reported the pilot's hometown. It is Bedford, Ind.)

 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,586
986
126
Wow, that's messed up.

Still, too much of a coincidence to dismiss as an accident IMO. Too bad for the little girl.
rose.gif
:(
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
Local news reporting that Eric Johnson had kidnapped his daughter and intentionally flew the plane into house.

Johnson made no distress calls before the crash.

He had rented the plane locally and the family had filed a restraining order against the man for prior threats.
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,158
59
91
Damn, an 8 year old little girl. If you were going to do something like that, leave the girl out of it.