Five people are dead after a small plane crashed in rural Upstate New York, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed Monday.
A single-engine private aircraft went down around 2 p.m. Sunday in Delaware County, near the town of Masonville. The Piper PA-46 plane had taken off from Albert S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta before crashing due to unknown circumstances, the FAA said.
WBNG reports the crash site was found at 9:31 p.m. Sunday after an extensive search with drones, ATVs and helicopters. All five people that were on board the aircraft were found in the wreckage.
New York State Police identified the victims as a pilot and four passengers, including two children:
- Roger Beggs, age 76
- Laura VanEpps, age 43
- Ryan VanEpps, age 42
- James R. VanEpps, age 12
- Harrison VanEpps, age 10
Police said the passengers were from Georgia, visiting the area for a baseball tournament in Cooperstown. The plane was headed to West Virginia to refuel before a final destination at Cobbs County International Airport in Atlanta Georgia.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the incident. Officials have not identified a possible cause of the crash.
Masonville is located in the western Catskills mountain area of the Southern Tier, about 25 miles outside of Oneonta and approximately 80 miles southeast of Syracuse. Earlier reports suggested the crash may have occurred in the nearby Hamlet of Trout Creek or the village of Sidney.
Read More: Plane crash in Upstate NY: 5 dead, including two children; victims identified
