On Wednesday, five Arkansas emergency responders were killed in a plane crash in Little Rock. They were environmental employees heading to the deadly explosion of a metal plant in Ohio.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a twin-engine plane carrying the group departed from Hillary Clinton National Airport around noon. Soon after take-off, the plane crashed near a wooded area.
Dennis Gordon, a witness to the incident, said that the crash caused an explosion that was followed by smaller ones and a huge fire.
The team, including the pilot, were employees of North Little Rock-based environmental consulting firm CTEH. They were headed to Ohio to help out with an earlier explosion incident that happened at the I. Schumann & Co. copper alloy company in Cleveland. The Ohio explosion caused the death of one employee and injured more than 12 people, two of whom are in critical condition.
Lt. Cody Burk, a spokesperson for Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office reported that they were not able to find survivors in the plane crash. He also said that the weather was “not that good” when they flew, with winds of 40 mph in the area. Investigators have yet to confirm the actual cause of the plane crash.
The incident is being investigated by the Little Rock Police Department, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, and the National Transport Safety Board.
The plane was reported to be a King Air 2020, usually used for business travel. It was also used by the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center for data gathering and for training pilots.
It was also not the first reported crash of the plane model. In October 2015, a King Air 2020 crash killed the pilot and the only passenger. In a separate incident, the same plane model crashed in India and killed 10 people.
