MERCER CO., Pa. (EYT) – Officials say two men are dead following a plane crash that happened last week in Mercer County.
(Pictured: An archived photo of a Cessna 210 airplane that crashed on Wednesday in Mercer County. Photo from 7/12/2009, courtesy of flightaware.com)
According to the Sharon Herald, the crash occurred around 5:42 p.m. on Wednesday, November 24, in a wooded area near Tri-County Industries on Park Drive in Mercer County.
The death of the pilot, identified as 65-year-old Richard Briggs, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was announced by Mercer County Coroner John A. Libonati on Friday, November 26.
The Allegheny County Coroner’s Office then reported the passenger, identified as 55-year-old Keigh Vanover, of Parma, Ohio, was pronounced dead at 9:17 a.m. on Saturday, November 27, at a Pittsburgh hospital.
The information released states Vanover died due to thermal burns and inhalation injuries.
The involved plane was a single-engine, six-seat Cessna 210.
Flight records indicate Briggs had flown from Akron Fulton Airport to Westchester Airport just north of New York City that morning and then planned to fly nonstop from upstate New York to Akron, but diverted to stop at Clarion County Airport.
The plane crashed just 19 minutes after resuming its flight from Clarion to Akron.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, preliminary findings indicate the plane was experiencing significant mechanical problems, including a loss of oil pressure and engine function just before the crash.
Mercer County’s public safety director Frank Jannetti reported that staff from the control tower at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, Ohio, told Mercer County 911 that the plane had radioed indicating it lost engine function, and Briggs was trying to make a safe landing.
