Four people are dead after a tragic and totally unexplained crash brought their small plane down in Vermont.
The accident took place on Sunday September 8, according to authorities. The victims included 55-year-old Paul Pelletier, who was flying the plane, and 88-year-old passenger Frank Rodriguez.
Pelletier was a teacher for Connecticut’s Middletown Public Schools, specializing in manufacturing and aerospace. One of his students—sophomore and 15-year-old Delilah Van Ness—was killed in the crash, as was her mother, 51-year-old Susan Van Ness.
District superintendent Alberto Vázquez Matos released a statement in the aftermath of the tragedy, describing it as an “unimaginable loss” that has “left a void” in the community. He specifically lamented the deaths of “Paul, Delilah, and Susan,” all of whom he said were “special individuals” who are already being missed “throughout our district and city.”
Rodriguez, the other passenger on the deadly flight, has not had his connection to the other victims released by authorities. However, it was revealed to local news outlets that Delilah was learning to fly, under Pelletier’s leadership.
According to police, the small group left on the morning of September 8, heading to Ferrisburgh, Vermont Basin Harbor Airport. They took off from Windham Airport in Connecticut, flying in a four-seat plane that was privately owned. They attended a brunch in Vermont before heading back to Connecticut in the early afternoon.
One witness reported seeing the aircraft on the runway just after noon. But the Vermont State Police never heard any reports of a crash or a plane in distress. They were only alerted to the tragedy when relatives of the victims contacted police when they never returned home.
The grounded plane was found after midnight on Monday September 9, having crashed in a wooded area not far from the Vermont airport. Federal investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are working the case, although they have said that it could take up to two years to know the cause of the crash.
