2 Dead After Plane Crashes Into Home's Front Yard

Pilots both died; no injuries on the ground
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 21, 2019 3:47 PM CST
2 Dead After Plane Crashes Into Home's Front Yard
Debris lies on the ground after a deadly plane crash near Kidron, Ohio, Monday, Jan. 21, 2019.   (Mike Schenk/The Daily Record via AP)

Authorities say two pilots are dead after a plane crashed into the snow-covered front yard of a rural Ohio home shortly after taking off from a private airfield nearby, the AP reports. The State Highway Patrol says initial reports indicate the plane had engine trouble Monday morning after departing Stoltzfus Airfield in Wayne County, roughly 50 miles south of Cleveland. It hit trees and took down power lines, and the front of the aircraft was destroyed.

Troopers say 55-year-old pilot Brian Stoltzfus and 56-year-old co-pilot Curtis Wilkerson died at the scene. Both were from nearby Apple Creek. No one else was hurt. The crash shook but just missed Michael Morrison's home. Morrison tells the Daily Record in Wooster he ran outside, spotted the wreckage in the yard and immediately called 911. (A jet crashed into an Atlanta park last month.)

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