Six
men from Illinois and California are dead following a Catawba plane crash that
occurred on July 1, 2017, as the group was bound for a Canadian fishing trip in
a Cessna 421 C. The Price County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin, Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
are conducting ongoing investigations into the crash, but the wreckage
indicates that the plane likely broke up in flight. What caused the
plane to break up during flight will be determined by investigators.
Cessna Plane Crash Occurred in Early Morning Hours
The
Cessna 421 C was piloted by 70-year-old Kevin James King. King was a resident
of Bensenville, Illinois, and was the only one on board certified to fly the
aircraft. A Cessna 421 C can accommodate between six and seven passengers,
depending on the plane's year. Six men, including King, were killed when the
plane crashed.
The
plane had departed from Waukegan, Illinois, and was headed for Winnipeg,
Manitoba, a city in central Canada. King had been in contact with air traffic
control, but at about 1:53 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, July 1, 2017, the
communication ended. The Air Marine Operations Center contacted the Price
County Sheriff's Office at 3:21 a.m., saying that "[the aircraft] had
dropped in altitude and they lost radio contact," according to Lt. Gabe
Lind with the Sheriff's Office.
Price County sheriff's officials say there are no survivors after a plane crash in northern Wisconsin #WKOW https://t.co/5atGNW53NC pic.twitter.com/RAsMigBgx2— WKOW 27 (@WKOW) July 1, 2017
Two
deputies from the Prince County Sheriff's Office were sent to investigate the
last known location of the plane. They quickly found debris on the highway, with
visible evidence that further debris had been scattered through the nearby
forest and swamp areas.
Recovery Efforts in Wisconsin Plane Crash Aided by Private Helicopter Pilot
Emergency
first responders and volunteer firefighters from nearby towns joined with the
Sheriff's Office in rescue and recovery efforts, but the thick brush and swamp
areas slowed progress, leading teams to have to search the area in a
tightly-joined line.
Lt.
Lind ultimately contacted the local airport manager, who sought out assistance
from a private helicopter pilot planning to display his helicopter in the
upcoming air show.
It
was from the air that the pilot and rescue workers were
able to locate the main site of the small plane crash, inside the forest
and about 400-500 yards from where searchers were looking. The fuselage was
also located at the main crash site, and once found, it became clear to
emergency personnel that no one had survived the crash.
Passengers of Downed Plane Included Two Father-Son Pairs
There
were five passengers, in addition to King, killed in the Catawba plane crash.
They were:
-
James
Francis, 63, from Norco, California
-
Thomas
DeMauro, 56, from Bensenville, Illinois
-
Kyle
DeMauro, 21, from Bensenville, Illinois
-
Charles
Tomlitz, 69, from Addison, Illinois
-
George
Tomlitz, 45, from Brookfield, Illinois
Thomas
and Kyle DeMauro were father and son, respectively, as were Charles and George
Tomlitz, and the group had done a similar fly-in fishing trip in the past. King
was the DeMauros' neighbor and had a reputation in the area for being an
accomplished pilot as well as for owning multiple planes. Francis has been
identified as a friend, but it is not clear which man or men he was friends
with.
The entire #Tioga & @BensenvilleD2 community is heartbroken for the DeMauro &Tomlitz families. Both were amazing men & will b greatly missed https://t.co/bpnkvkQPvq— Nicole Robinson (@nmrobinson_) July 2, 2017
Both
Charles Tomlitz and Thomas DeMauro worked with the Bensenville school district,
DeMauro as the physical education teacher for Tioga Elementary School, and
Tomlitz as a maintenance director for the district.
The
evening of the Wisconsin plane crash, Tioga Elmentary School posted
an update to their Facebook page informing students and families of the
fatal incident. Shawn King, whose father was piloting the plane and also
killed, was the first to comment his condolences on the update. A
memorial page titled “Tioga Remembers Mr. DeMauro and Chuck Tomlitz” was
created by the Tioga community soon after.
Nina
Trader, now 35, was a student of DeMauro and said in an interview with USA
Today that his care for and interest in his students was easy to see.
Trader also recalled DeMauro and his wife bringing their newborn son Kyle to
the school (Kyle was killed in the crash).
"I
don't know anybody who didn't love Mr. DeMauro," Trader said. "He was
so beloved."
Roberta
Murphy, the co-president of the Bensenville Education Association, created a GoFundMe site to raise
funds to cover burial costs for both DeMauro and Tomlitz, and though the
site had set a goal of only $500 it had raised $13,000 as of July 6, 2017.
Another GoFundMe site was started to raise
money for DeMauro’s wife and younger son, and, as of July 6, 2017, it had
raised $10,000 of its $12,000 goal.
we love you tom and kyle. https://t.co/0NA8noAHDT— 💌asia (@emilymylinh) July 2, 2017
Catawba Plane Crash Investigation Ongoing
The
Price County Sheriff's office announced on July 5, 2017, that the on-site
investigations being conducted by themselves, the FAA and the NTSB were
complete, and that the wreckage had been taken off-site for examination. A
preliminary report from the NTSB generally takes about 10 days to be completed,
and a full report from the organization may take more than a year.
A
press conference with NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss was held on Monday, July 3,
2017. During that conference, Weiss stated that the debris from the Catawba
plane crash indicated there was an "in-flight break up." Weiss said
investigators were still working to determine if the "local weather
phenomenon" that King and the air traffic controllers had been discussing
prior to the crash was a factor.
Weiss
made it clear, however, that the initial report was not definitive and that
they had not yet found a cause
for the private plane crash.
"This
is just the beginning of the investigation," Weiss said. "We have not
ruled anything in or out."
Weather
reports for the area suggest that there was still low cloud cover at the time
of the crash, but that it had begun clearing up at about 2:15 a.m.
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