A small aircraft accident claimed the lives of a five-member Georgia family returning from a New York baseball tournament.
July 1 (UPI) — According to New York State Police that very Monday, a small plane crash in New York claimed the lives of five members of an Atlanta-area family.
Around 2 p.m. on Sunday, officers in Masonville, Delaware County, responded to crash reports and discovered the bodies of five individuals in the wreckage of a Piper Malibu Mirage. Masonville is located 90 miles south of Syracuse, New York.
“A multi-agency search, employing drones, ATVs, and helicopters, led to the discovery of debris and eventually the downed aircraft,” state police said in a statement.
The family was returning from a baseball tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y.—the location of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
The aircraft had taken off from Albert S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta, was headed to Charleston, W.Va., to refuel, and was scheduled to continue on to Cobb County International Airport in Georgia.
The victims were identified as Roger Beggs, 73—a licensed pilot—along with Laura Van Epps, 43; Ryan Van Epps, 42; James R. Van Epps, 12; and Harrison Van Epps, 10. Records obtained by the Atlanta Journal Constitution indicate that the family resided in Alpharetta.
The New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Collision Reconstruction Unit, and Forensic Identification Unit are working with both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Board to determine the cause of the crash.
Notably, the original Piper Malibu Mirage model was certified by the FAA in 1983, and the propeller-driven aircraft is designed to seat six passengers.
