Watertown, Wis.) -- Two men and a woman died in a cargo plane that crashed after a midair collision with another cargo plane that was able to land safely, the Jefferson County coroner said Monday. Robert Chabot, 25, of Plano, Texas, and Todd Hagen, 42, and Tracey Marshall-Hagen, 37, both of Essex Junction, Vt., died in the crash, Coroner Patrick Theder said.
The identical multi-engine, fixed-wing cargo planes -- called a Shorts 360 -- left Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport together and collided near Watertown at about 5 p.m. Sunday, according to the FAA. One plane crashed and burned in a cornfield near Watertown and the other made a rough landing at Dodge County Airport in Juneau, authorities said. The three people on the second plane were not injured.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation, Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls said, referring all questions to federal investigators. An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board was at the scene.
from www.fox6milwaukee.com Planes That Collided Preparing for Duty in Iraq
Watertown - Two cargo airplanes that collided in the air, sending one into a flaming crash that killed its three-member crew, were on a final flight before leaving for Iraq under a Defense Department contract, authorities said Monday.
Crew members in the two planes, which had been modified with larger fuel tanks to make the flight across the Atlantic Ocean, were taking pictures of each other when the accident happened about 5 p.m. Sunday.
"While the aircraft were flying near each other, one of the aircraft turned and made contact with the other aircraft," said Todd Fox, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.
"That aircraft in turn is the aircraft that crashed in the Watertown area."
The identical fixed-wing Shorts 360 cargo planes registered to Air Cargo Carrier Inc. of Milwaukee left Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport together before colliding about 50 miles west of Milwaukee, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The planes were flying wing tip to wing tip, maybe 150 feet apart, at about 2,500 feet when the collision occurred, Fox said.
The plane that crashed left burning debris scattered in a cornfield. Killed were Robert Chabot, 25, of Plano, Texas, and Todd Hagen, 42, and Tracy Marshall-Hagen, 37, both of Essex Junction, VT, Jefferson County Coroner Patrick Theder said. No other information on them was immediately available. The other plane made a rough landing at Dodge County Airport in Juneau despite damage caused by the collision, authorities said. The three people on that plane were not injured.
from www.cbs58.com how shocking. Please flyers take a easy out there. Theres only 1 life in a airplane ..... I will cont. to update you with information