Family Of Four On Board Feared Fatally Injured

ANN Update 0833 EDT 6.15.10: The people on board the aircraft have been positively identified as Jeffrey, Ronna, Alexa, and Carlie Ulrich, according to multiple media sources including the Miami Herald. Authorities are saying Ulrich, an experienced pilot, had refueled at Springerville Airport (D68) and was attempting to climb out when the aircraft apparently hit a light post and a tree before impacting the roof of the empty school.
Original Story: Four members of a Florida family reportedly en route to a family vacation at the Grand Canyon are feared to have been killed Friday when an airplane registered to Jeffery Ulrich went down, at a very steep pitch angle, into an empty school in Eagar, AZ.

File Photo

The Piper PA-32R-300 which went down was registered to Ulrich, who lived in Wesley Chapel, FL. United Press International reports that family friends told the officials that Ulrich, his wife and two daughters were flying to the Grand Canyon on vacation. They reportedly had refueled in Eagar, and had just departed Springerville Airport (D68) when the accident occurred.

The four bodies recovered from the aircraft have not yet been positively identified.

Tampa television station WTSP reports that a witness said it sounded like the engine was "cutting off", then the airplane banked steeply and "went straight in." 9-1-1 dispatchers said they got reports of a "loud banging" just before the accident, which happened about 1400 local time.

No one was in the school building when the accident occurred, and there were no injuries on the ground. The NTSB says it will be difficult to re-construct the accident to determine the probable cause because of the extensive damage to the airplane.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov