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The Baron Twin-Piston was located at approximately 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14 in a small clearing in the woods within the Leyden Wildlife Management Area in Franklin County, Massachusetts, near the border of the city of Greenfield and the town of Leyden.
The three occupants, all of whom were in the crashed plane, were determined to be dead by Greenfield Firefighters and American Medical Response paramedics, Massachusetts State Police said.
Late Monday morning, Jan. 15, Massachusetts State Police identified the three as a pair of Western Massachusetts residents from Hampden County and the man from northeastern Connecticut:
- William Hampton, age 68, of the village of Indian Orchard in Springfield, Massachusetts;
- Chad Davidson, age 29, of the town of Woodstock in Windham County, Connecticut;
- Fredrika Ballard, age 53, of Southwick, Massachusetts.
Police said Ballard was the owner of the Fly Lugu Flight School, which owned the plane. Hampton was a flight instructor or Fly Lugu. Davidson was a student pilot.
The victims were removed from the wreckage by firefighters and transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Authorities began searching for the crash site at approximately 11:30 a.m. after Greenfield Police/Fire Dispatch received 911 calls from dog walkers in Leyden and Greenfield reporting a plane that appeared about to crash, said police.
Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Safety Inspectors also responded to the crash site yesterday and a National Transportation Safety Board investigator is expected to arrive today.
The facts and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation by:
- Massachusetts State Police,
- Greenfield Police,
- Northwest District Attorney’s Office,
- Federal Aviation Administration,
- National Transportation Safety Board.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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