"A Terrible Tragedy"

“It's a terrible tragedy. There are two families basically taken from us." Those words came from Mark Feinstein, president of the Rhode Island Jewish Federation, after two families -- both very active in the community -- were lost in a single-engine plane crash over the weekend. Feinstein was quoted in the Providence Day newspaper.

The victims were identified as:

• Jeffrey Jacober, pilot
• Karen Jacober
• Eric Jacober, 15-years old
• Gregg Weingeroff
• Dawn Weingeroff
• Leland Weingeroff, 10-years old

The two families were returning to Providence from a Florida vacation -- with a stop near Penn State University, where Michael Jacober was playing in a lacross tournament.

The Pilatus PC-12/45, built in 1999, was on approach to Pennsylvania's University Park Airport, near Penn State, at around 1400 EST when it went down not far from the airport. Jacober was reportedly in touch with New York Center at the time of the accident and didn't mention any problems with either the aircraft or the approach.

"I threw a tennis ball in the air, looked to the right, and I saw this huge plane come down out of the air," said 13-year old witness James Cox, quoted by Pennsylvania's Centre Daily Times. "It went straight to the ground" and made "a huge bang."

The teenager said the pilot of the PC-12/45 (file photo of type, right) "was just revving it and revving it and revving it" as he went down. "I said a small prayer to myself as I saw it twirl towards the ground," the young man wrote in an e-mail quoted by the Daily Times. "That was all I could think of for those poor people stranded in the plane."

FMI: www.ntsb.gov