Plane Down In Possible Wx-Related Crash

Two freshmen enrolled in the University of North Dakota's aviation program were lost Friday evening, when their Cessna Skyhawk went down near Crookston, MN.

Jacob Rueth, 18, and 19-year-old Jacob Sundblad had planned to take off from the airport at around 5:30 pm Friday to practice nighttime pattern work, according to fellow UND student Brian Rusiniak. Rueth was to be the pilot for the roughly hour-long flight.

The National Weather Service reports intermittent snow blew through the airport starting at 5 pm that afternoon, and continued for several hours. Reported winds at the time increased from 10 mph to over 25 mph, with visibility reduced to one mile by 7:30 pm.

"On and off, it was bad," airport manager Lowell Miller told the Grand Forks Herald.

Authorities believe the accident occurred sometime around 8 pm Friday night. The plane impacted a field about 1.5 miles from the nontowered airport.

Search crews were alerted by the Civil Air Patrol early Saturday morning. The wreckage was located a short time later.

Both men were enrolled in UND's John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Science. A university spokesman said the accident flight was not part of a school assignment, or was in any way connected with the school.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating.

FMI: www.faa.gov