Lakeview - Authorities say a small plane taking off from a private airstrip at a popular trout fishing site crashed Friday morning, killing the pilot and two teenagers, and injuring two others.

Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says the plane crashed at about 9:00 a.m. after taking off from the turf runway at Gaston's White River Resort, in northern Arkansas.

Montgomery said two victims died at the scene and the third died at Mountain Home hospital.

The sheriff's office identified the dead as 52-year-old pilot Warren William Langford, of Chesterfield, Missouri; his son, 15-year-old Brandon Langford; and 15-year-old Jacob Ritz of Bridgeton, Missouri.

Injured were 43-year-old Donald Beckerle of Eureka, Missouri and 15-year-old Joshua Beckerle also of Eureka, Missouri. Joshua Beckerle was taken to St. John's Medical Center in Springfield, Missouri; and Donald Beckerle was treated and released from the Baxter Regional Medical Center, the sheriff's office said.

Witnesses told the Baxter Bulletin newspaper that the plane, a Piper Cherokee Lance, wobbled and tilted from side to side as it tried to take off from the grass runway.

The plane is registered to Propaire Incorporated, a nonprofit organization based in St. Louis. A Web site for the organization described it as a club "devoted to the world of general aviation."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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