Two On Board Fatally Injured In Accident Near Gary--Third Cirrus Accident In Last Few Days

A Cirrus SR22 based in St. Augustine, FL, has gone down in northern Indiana near Gary resulting in the apparent  fatal injury of the two people on board. The airplane reportedly impacted the ground several hundred feet from a school where classes were taking place, according to police.

The plane was registered to Gandy Air LLC in St. Augustine, FL. The owner of that company is a man named Patsy Crisafi. It has not been determined if he was aboard the plane when it went down, but phone calls to his St. Augustine office went unanswered, according to television station WAWS in Jacksonville, FL.

The plane went down just after 1100 EDT Wednesday in a densely wooded area near a charter school in Gary, according to the FAA. The Chicago Tribune reports that the plane was on fire when first responders arrived. There was one body lying on the ground, but Gary Fire Captain Donald Parker said it may have been one of the people on board the airplane.

The Daily News-Journal in Smyrna, TN, reports that plane arrived at Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport (KMQY) Tuesday night and left Wednesday morning, according to airport officials. A flight plan indicated that the plane was due in to Gary Jet Center at 1119 AM EDT.

Another Cirrus, this one an SR20, was involved in an incident in Eden Prairie, MN. The airplane reportedly failed to stop after landing at Flying Cloud airport at about 1840 CDT Tuesday and went through an airport fence, finally coming to a stop on a road nearby. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the airplane was leased by Hummingbird Aviation based at the airport. The accident stopped traffic on Flying Cloud Drive in both directions while the initial investigation took place. The pilot, who's name has not been released, was reportedly uninjured. No one else was on board the airplane at the time of the accident.

Wednesday's accident in Gary was the third involving a Cirrus airplane this week. A T-53 Kadet 2, the military version of the SR-20, struck a hangar during a landing attempt Monday at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. The Air Force said that neither person on board that airplane was injured in the accident.

(SR22 Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov