MEMPHIS, Ind. — A Chicago-bound jet crashed in southern Indiana shortly after taking off from a local airport Friday, and investigators believe everyone on board the small twin-engine plane was killed, according to police.
MEMPHIS, Ind. — A Chicago-bound jet crashed in southern Indiana shortly after taking off from a local airport Friday, and investigators believe everyone on board the small twin-engine plane was killed, according to police.
Flight plans indicate that three people were on the plane when it left Clark Regional Airport on its way to Chicago’s Midway Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham said. Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel said it’s unclear how many people were on the plane when it crashed, but investigators confirmed multiple fatalities and don’t believe anyone on board survived.
The sheriff said the plane could carry as many as 10 people. Noel said it wasn’t immediately clear who owned the plane, which the National Transportation Safety Board identified as a Cessna Citation.
Indiana State Police Sgt. Jerry Goodin said he didn’t expect officials on Friday to confirm the identities of those killed in the crash. Goodin said police were securing the crash site until federal investigators arrive.
The jet crashed around 11:30 a.m. in a rural area near Memphis, Indiana, which is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Louisville, Kentucky. Noel said it appears the plane crashed shortly after taking off from the airport, which is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the crash site.
Helicopter video from WLKY-TV shows small pieces of smoldering debris scattered in the wooded area with numerous charred trees. Noel said there was nothing at the crash site that “people would recognize easily as an aircraft.”
NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said no information on a possible crash cause was immediately available. Federal investigators were expected to arrive at the scene Saturday.
