Four killed in private plane crash after flying from Connecticut to Vermont for brunch
A group of four people, who were killed in a private airplane crash in Vermont, have been identified – and one of the deceased is a teenage girl who loved planes.
Paul Pelletier, 55, Frank Rodriguez, 88, Susan Van Ness, 51, and Delilah Van Ness, 15, all residents of Connecticut, were named as the victims.
The four-person Piper plane left the state’s Windham Airport around 8:30 am Sunday, landing in Vermont for their brunch reservation at an upscale eatery in Basin Harbor.
But when they didn’t return to Connecticut later that day, their families reported them missing, leading to the plane being located early Monday in a ‘wooded area to the east of the Basin Harbor Airport’ in Ferrisburgh.
The airport is located next to a 700 acre resort where the four had just had brunch. All were pronounced dead at the scene Monday morning, Vermont State Police confirmed in a statement.
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A group of four killed in a private airplane crash in Vermont Sunday have been identified. Pilot Paul Pelletier (pictured) , a 55-year-old from Columbia, Connecticut, was among the dead. It remains unclear if the plane pictured was the one that crashed
Also identified Susan Van Ness, 51, and her 15-year-old daughter Delilah, an aviation enthusiast
‘A preliminary investigation determined that the four-seat, single-engine Piper aircraft had departed Windham Airport in Connecticut at about 8:30am Sunday,’ cops wrote at 8:40am.
Following the two-hour flight, ‘the privately owned plane landed and the occupants arrived for a brunch reservation at Basin Harbor,’ cops confirmed – revealing ‘the party departed the restaurant shortly after noon and were to fly back to Connecticut.
‘A witness reported seeing the airplane on the runway at about 12:15pm, the statement added – before echoing earlier ones from cops claiming officials had received ‘no reports indicating an aircraft in distress’ before the crash.
‘However, after the plane failed to return to Connecticut as expected, relatives of the occupants reported the situation to the Connecticut State Police and the Middletown (Connecticut) Police Department,’ the statement continued.
‘Those agencies worked with the Federal Aviation Administration and used cellphone location data to determine the plane’s last known location was near the airstrip in Vermont.’
Afterwards, with the assistance of a drone flown by Middlebury cops, investigators were able to locate the wreckage at about 12:20am Monday, state police said.
First responders confirmed all four – including mother and daughter Susan and Delilah – were deceased.
The bodies were then brought to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington, where they are now undergoing autopsies to determine cause and manner of death.
The bodies were then brought to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington, where they are now undergoing autopsies to determine cause and manner of death. Pictured: Paul Pelletier. It remains unclear if the plane pictured was the one that crashed
Paul Pelletier (right) is pictured flying a plane with his wife, who he is survived by
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, are investigating the crash, which remains unexplained more than a day later.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the FAA for comment.
VSP’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations is the agency responsible for the death investigation.
Posts on social media show that Pelletier was a seasoned pilot who often flew single-engine crafts – and also taught young aspiring pilots how to fly drones.
He is seen posing and flying several planes on Facebook.
Delilah’s social media showed her as a studious high schooler interested in aviation.
She said online that her interests are ‘robotics, aviation, cello, and art.’
She he was recognized by Connecticut Science Center at the age of just 14 for her work developing the ScreenBird, a handheld device and motion camera that work in tandem to make images appear as if they were a touch screen.
This allows for an image the user can interact with, with mouse-clicks and edits made while holding the device.
Susan worked as the Chief of Programs at the National Diaper Bank Network in Middletown, a non-profit dedicated to providing needy kids with ‘an adequate supply of diapers,’ its website states
Her mother Susan, meanwhile, worked as the Chief of Programs at the National Diaper Bank Network in Middletown, a non-profit dedicated to providing needy kids with ‘an adequate supply of diapers,’ its website states.
As for Rodriguez, he was a pilot once part of the Super Saber Society – a group of all-volunteer pilots recruited to fly low-elevation missions in enemy territory for ground commanders to send to their troops during various conflicts.
A biography on the group’s website recalls how he flew a F-100 from 1957 to 1959 with the US Air Force’s 49th Tactical Fighter Wing out of Étain-Rouvres AB, France, and again from 1959 to 1961 with the out of Spangdahlem AB in Germany.
The nickname bestowed on him by the flying force was ‘Speedy’, the bio states.
The investigation into the crash, meanwhile, remains ongoing, and is being treated as a federal investigation. It is unclear who was flying at the time of the crash.
When contacted about the crash Monday, The Basin Harbor Resort declined to comment.
This is a developing story; please check back for updates.