9 Confirmed Dead After Small Plane Crash in Akron in Foggy Conditions

Eric Chaney
Published: November 10,2015

The Ohio Highway Patrol confirmed nine people are dead after a small plane crashed into an apartment complex outside Akron, Ohio, Tuesday afternoon, WOIO reports. The area was blanketed in fog at the time of the crash. 
"Weather conditions in the Akron area Tuesday afternoon were poor, with low visibility and fog," said weather.com meteorologist Quincy Vagell. "So outside of a controlled runway landing, getting a plane down safely in an emergency would have been a very tough task."

Two people are dead after a small plane crashed into an apartment building near Akron, Ohio, Tuesday evening.
( Scott Ferrell)

According to Fox 8 Cleveland, the plane was a Hawker 25 small jet on approach to Akron Fulton Airport, when it crashed into a building near the corner of Mogadore and Skelton roads.Ohio State Patrol Lt. Bill Haymaker described the plane’s final path to the Akron Beacon Journal.  The aircraft clipped electrical and telephone wires on Mogadore Road before hitting a small apartment building and careening into an embankment. A second building in the area also was damaged.
"All of a sudden this plane just dropped out of the sky, just veered sideways and just plowed right into the duplexes there. It was just instant boom and flames and smoke, it was horrific," Eyewitness Robert Porter told WOIO.
Employees at a nearby construction company told Fox 8 they heard a low-flying plane, then what sounded like a car hitting a telephone pole. When they went outside, they saw flames and black smoke.
According to News Net 5, Akron police said they received several calls about the crash. One caller said a big explosion was heard, another caller said black smoke was seen and another caller reported heavy flames.
The Akron Fire Department had several units at the scene to extinguish a fire and to see if anyone need to be rescued from the apartment building.
Augusto Lewkowicz, the owner and operator of the plane, told the Beacon Journal, there were nine people, including two pilots, on board, but did not release any names.
“I owe responses to the family members first,” Lewkowicz said.
No injuries or deaths occurred on the ground, Haymaker told the Beacon Journal. But the fire, still burning hotly at 4:30 p.m., made further investigation difficult. The occupants of the building that was destroyed weren’t home at the time of the crash.
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