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They are:
- William Hampton, age 68, of Indian Orchard
- Chad Davidson, age 29, of Woodstock, Connecticut
- Fredrika Ballard, age 53, of Southwick
Ballard owned Fly Lugu Flight School and Hampton was an instructor. Davidson was taking flying lessons, Massachusetts State Police said.
According to flight tracker data, the twin-engine Beechcraft Baron 55 with tail number N7345R took off from Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield at 11:06 a.m. and crashed 19 minutes and 54 miles later in the Leyden Wildlife Management Area.
It made several tight revolutions while in the air before going down.
It's unclear what led to the crash, but the National Traffic Safety Board said it would have an investigator on the scene to begin its inquiry on Monday, Jan. 15.
"The preliminary information is that the plane crashed under unknown circumstances near Leyden Wildlife Management Area with three people on board," the NTSB said in a statement. "An NTSB investigator is en route to the scene and is expected to arrive tomorrow. Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation."
Greenfield firefighters pulled the bodies from the wreckage and transported them to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner.
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