Aviation

Five killed, two hospitalized in Louisiana plane crash

by Rachel Frazin 12/28/19 11:48 AM ET

Five people were killed and one person was hospitalized after a small plane crashed in Louisiana.

Firefighters and other first responders arrived to find that the plane had crashed in an open field near the local post office, Alton Trahan, a spokesperson for the Lafayette Fire Department, told The Hill in a statement.

Trahan added that there was a small fire involving the plane and one vehicle, but that both were extinguished.

One person on the ground at the Post Office has also been hospitalized. The conditions of the hospitalized people are unknown, he said.

Authorities on Saturday identified the victims in the incident.

Pilot Ian E. Biggs and passengers Robert Vaughn Crisp II, Carley Ann McCord, Gretchen D. Vincent and Michael Walker Vincent were killed.

The two-engine Piper Cheyenne aircraft crashed “under unknown circumstances” into the parking lot of a post office, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson told The Hill in an email Saturday.

It had left from the Lafayette Regional Airport and crashed one mile west of it, the spokesperson said.

Investigators from the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board were headed to the accident site.

Local CBS affiliate KLFY reported that the aircraft was an eight-passenger plane.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) called the news “heartbreaking” in a tweet.

“Please join @FirstLadyOfLA and I in praying for the families and friends of everyone affected by this terrible tragedy,” he wrote.

Updated: 2:06 p.m.