Find Your Daily Voice
'We Will Remember': Loved Ones Honor Middletown Mom, Daughter, Teacher Killed In Plane Crash
Communities across Connecticut are reeling following the death of four residents in a small airplane crash on Sunday, Sept. 8, as they returned home from a luncheon in Rhode Island.
The victims were:
Paul Pelletier, age 55, of Columbia, in Tolland County
Frank Rodriquez, age 88, of Lebanon, in New London County
Susan Van Ness, age 51, of Middletown, in Middlesex County
Delilah Van Ness, age 15, of Middletown, in Middlesex County
Pelletier was an aviation teacher at Middletown High School and Delilah Van Ness was his student. Susan Van Ness was Delilah's mother.
Ori…
Victims Killed In VA Plane Crash ID'd As Passionate Pilot, NY Mom, 2-Year-Old Daughter, Nanny
The pilot and three passengers killed in the Sunday, June 4 Virginia plane crash have been identified.
Adina Azarian, her 2-year-old daughter, Aria, and nanny, were identified as the passengers of the aircraft by Azarian's father, John Rumpel — who runs the company that owns the aircraft — in an interview with the New York Times.
Azarian's live-in nanny was identified as Evadnie Smith, and the pilot as Jeff Hefner, according to the Washington Post. Kimberly Hefner, who is listed on social media as Hefner's wife, said "Papi Hefner" died doing what he loved doing: Flying.
Papi Hefner do…
Police ID Pair Rescued From Maryland Small Plane Crash
A 66-year-old man and woman were rescued after being stranded 100 feet up for seven hours with serious injuries from a small plane that crashed into a power tower in Montgomery County Sunday, Nov. 27.
The pilot, Patrick Merkle, 66, of Washington DC, and his passenger, Janet Williams, 66, of Marrero, LA, had apparently departed from Westchester County Airport in New York, in a Mooney Mike 20P single engine plane, before crashing in Gaithersburg around 6:45 p.m., officials said.
Nearly 85,000 people were without power for about six hours, PEPCO records show.
Update - Gaithersburg, Maryl…
IDs Now Released For All Victims, Survivors Of Deadly WWII Bomber Plane Crash
The names of the seven victims and the survivors of a deadly World War II bomber plane crash at Bradley International Airport have been released as authorities continue to investigate.
During a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 3, Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner James Rovella said that as the investigation continues, it was important to keep the families of "those injured and killed in our thoughts and prayers."
The pilot, Ernest McCauley, 75, of Long Beach, California, and co-pilot Michael Foster, 71, of Jacksonville, Florida, are …