NTSB removing wreckage of Vermont plane crash that killed 4 from Connecticut

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (WTNH) — The National Transportation Safety Board will remove the wreckage of a deadly plane crash that killed four people from Connecticut and send it to a facility to be examined, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

The wreckage will be removed on Tuesday evening and examined to see if there was a mechanical issue that caused the plane to crash not too far from a Vermont runway. Investigators will also be looking into the conditions surrounding the pilot.

Vermont State Police have identified the victims as 55-year-old Paul Pelletier of Columbia, 88-year-old Frank Rodriquez of Lebanon, 51-year-old Susan Van Ness of Middletown and her 15-year-old daughter, Delilah Van Ness.

The announcement comes on the same day that Middletown High School closed to mourn Delilah Van Ness, a sophomore at the school, and Pelletier, an aerospace and manufacturing teacher.

Middletown police said Delilah was taking flight lessons with Pelletier. Rodriquez was a World War II veteran who flew planes. Susan Van Ness was an active volunteer and chief of programs for the National Diaper Bank.

The four were in a single-engine Piper PA-28 aircraft that departed the Windham Airport Sunday afternoon for a flight to Ferrisburgh, Vermont. The group ate brunch, and took off for the return trip at about noon.

Family alerted state and Middletown police after they never arrived home. The wreckage was found just after midnight on Monday.

The private airport has a grass runway and no air traffic control, according to an NTSB investigator. While the small plane was not required to have a “black box,” its equipment could have still contain data about the moments leading up to the crash.

A preliminary report into the crash is expected within 30 days, with a full report released in between 18 and 24 months.

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