Plane Went Down In A River In Zambia

A young couple performing missionary work in Africa was fatally injured last weekend when the Cessna 206 they were flying went down in the Zambezi River in Zambia.

The couple, identified as Jay and Katrina Erikson, were working at Chitokoloki Mission Hospital. They were returning to the hospital after flying a nurse to another town. The couple had two young daughters ... aged two and one ... who had stayed behind at the hospital while their parents made the flight.

The Christian Post reports that it was the first flight Katrina had made with her husband since they had started working together at the hospital several months ago. Jay had been trained as an aircraft mechanic and bush pilot by Moody Aviation, which is affiliated with the Moody Bible Institute in Spokane, WA. Both were in their late 20s.

The Ericksons were scheduled to work at the hospital until 2013, at which time they would have made a decision as to whether to stay. With the permission of both families, they were buried in Zambia Tuesday. (Cessna 206 image from file)

FMI: www.moodyav.org