Ten people are dead in Addison, Texas after a twin-engine King Air 350 plane crashed into a hangar after taking off on a trip to St. Petersburg Florida, official said in an evening news conference on June 30. There were no survivors.
“What we know at this point,” said Bruce Landsberg, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, in a press conference. “There were two flight crew members, and there were eight passengers. We don’t have a lot of detail beyond that at this point.” The Addison Municipal Airport is located about 20 miles from Dallas, Texas.
Landsberg said he didn’t know the condition of the flight crew yet in terms of their prior experience “but that will definitely come out in the investigation. There will be a deep dive into the pilot’s background.” The aircraft had recently changed hands, authorities said, so they weren’t sure what the tail number of plane was.
A local school named the first victims as Brian and Ornella Ellard and two children, Alice and Dylan Maritato (Ornella is their mother and Brian their stepfather). Steve and Gina Thelen, and Matthew Palmer, are the other victims named so far. You can read more about the crash victims here.
“Information we have and the video that we saw was that the airplane was airborne,” Landsberg said on July 1. “So, the airplane had gotten airborne and then veered to the left of the runway, and then started to roll to the left. And it was in the process of rolling when it collided with the hangar.”
“We don’t know a lot about the people on board at this point. The next of kin is in the process of being notified,” said Landsberg on the evening of June 30, 2019. That information will come out July 1, he said. NBC News described the plane as a Beechcraft BE-350 King Air.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Aircraft Was Owned by a Chicago Charter Company & the Cause of the Plane Crash Is Not Yet Clear
Landsberg said the aircraft was on an instrumental flight plan from Addison airport to St. Petersburg, Florida. It is believed the plane was previously owned by a charter company in Chicago. The hangar was privately-owned, but authorities wouldn’t say who owned it.
“We can not confirm that there was an engine failure at this point,” he said about the cause. “There are any number of possibilities that could occur and we’re not in a position to speculate on these things.” Authorities are aware of three different videos.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins wrote on Twitter, “Dallas County HSEM, HHS, SWIFS on scene. SWIFS working with NTSB officials to manage investigation of cause of crash. Addison has released there were no survivors and 10 fatalities. NTSB is expected to be on scene tonight.”
He added, “We finished briefing the families and have done nearly all our teams can do today.”
According to the NTSB newsroom, “The NTSB is launching a go team to Addison, TX to investigate the June 30 crash involving a King Air 350.”
The Plane ‘Collided’ With a Hangar, NTSB Officials Say
"We'd like to express our most sincere condolences… to the family and friends who lost loved ones in this crash,” said Landsberg. "We're just here to investigate…”
The crash occurred at 9:11 a.m. at the Addison airport, he said, adding: "The aircraft collided with a hanger." A Falcon jet air craft and a helicopter were both inside the hangar, and they were damaged.
The NTSB launched an eight-person go-team. Five additional specialists are coming in from all over the country. He said the NTSB will look for perishable evidence first.
Jennifer Rodi, senior air safety investigator and investigator in charge of this accident, said that her team has walked "through the scene several times this evening and observed the wreckage where it sits, the damage to the hangar…The airplane was damaged by impact forces and a post-impact fire." She said her team was starting to gather information on scene. They will be looking into the flight crew on board, their training, knowledge and experience; the aircraft and its maintenance history; and the environment, including the weather, air traffic control environment, and any communications that took place.
The NTSB is in the fact-gathering stage. Within two weeks, they expect to have a preliminary report out. All of the background information will be included in the analysis.