Four Fatally Injured When Plane Went Down On Approach

A Piper PA-46 Malibu Mirage with four people on board went down Sunday evening in Decatur County, IN, near Greensburg southeast of Indianapolis. The plane was on approach to Greensburg Airport (I34) when the accident occurred.

The FAA said that the plane went down less than two miles from the airport, according to television station WTHR. While the families of those on board have been notified, the county coroner has not officially released their names. Capt. Bill Meyerrose of the Greensburg Police Department said they are well known in the community. The airplane was registered to Donald Horan of Greensburg, IN, who had registered it in October, according to the FAA.

According to FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro, the airplane had been cleared for approach to I34, which according to AirNav has published RNAV and VOR approaches. Communication with the airplane was lost at about 1820 EST. The FAA preliminary report indicates that airplane "crashed under unknown circumstances, the 4 persons on board were fatally injured." The report says the wreckage was located about 1 1/2 miles from Greensburg, IN.

Capt. Meyrrose said that a 911 dispatcher received a call about that same time, reporting what the caller thought was a plane crash. Flight records show that the plane had flown from Greensburg to Florida on Friday, and was reportedly returning from Destin, FL, when it went down. The station meteorologist said that the ceiling was between 300-600 feet agl at the time of the accident.

The wreckage was located in a farm field. It had apparently gone through a tree line before impacting the ground. Capt. Meyrrose said the search efforts were hampered by misty rain, fog, and muddy conditions in the field.

(Image from Piper. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov