Four people died in a private plane crash in Ferrisburgh on Sunday. The plane was discovered in a wooded area east of the airstrip at Basin Harbor Airport, where it was last seen on the runway at 12:15 p.m.
Vermont State Police identified the four victims as Paul Pelletier, 55, of Columbia, Connecticut; Frank Rodriquez, 88, of Lebanon, Connecticut; Susan Van Ness, 51, of Middletown, Connecticut; and Delilah Van Ness, 15, of Middletown, Connecticut.
There were no reports of a plane crash or aircraft in distress, according to a state police press release; the first indication the plane had gone missing was when relatives contacted police in Connecticut reporting the plane had not made it back home. Using cellphone location data, police and the Federal Aviation Administration determined the plane’s last known location was near Basin Harbor Airport.
Vermont State Police were notified around 10:20 p.m., ten hours after the plane was last spotted. It was an additional two hours before emergency officials were able to locate the wreckage, using a drone flown by Middlebury police, at around 12:20 a.m., according to the press release.
An investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive Tuesday morning, said NTSB spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick. She requested anyone with surveillance video or information to contact the board at witness@ntsb.gov.
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