Police Investigating Possibility Crash Was "Intentional Act"

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 03.05.07 1910 EST: New information has surfaced on Monday's crash of a small plane near Bedford, IN... that casts a disturbing pall on an already sad story.

Indianapolis television station WRTV-6 reports authorities have identified the passengers as pilot Eric Johnson, 47, and his eight-year-old daughter Emily. Police state Emily had been reported missing by her mother at about the time the crash occurred.

Furthermore, the home into which their Cessna 150M crashed belongs to the pilot's former or estranged mother-in-law.

So far, a preliminary investigation by Indiana State Police "lead us to believe that this was an intentional act," said ISP spokesman 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten.

1900 EST: Officials have confirmed two persons, a man and a small girl, were onboard a Cessna 150 that crashed into a home near Indiana's Grissom Memorial Airport Monday morning.

Photos from the scene show the tail section of a red-and-white aircraft buried among the wreckage of the home, with registration number N66513 plainly visible. FAA records show that number assigned to a Cessna 150M (type shown at right), registered to an owner in Bedford, IN.

ANN will continue to update this story as more details become available.

1420 EST: At least one person onboard an aircraft, tentatively identified as a Cessna 150, was killed Monday morning when the plane impacted a house near Virgil Grissom Memorial Airport (KBFR) in Bedford, IN.

Airport officials tell The Associated Press the unidentified pilot rented the plane that morning from a facility at the airport. The plane went down just after takeoff, and witnesses told the The Times-Mail newspaper it appeared the plane may have been attempting to land back at the airport.

Reports indicate a second person was onboard the plane, but that has not been confirmed. Two women inside the home were able to get out safely, according to officials.

NOTAM 7/4815 is in effect around the accident site until further notice.

FMI: www.faa.gov