The Latest: 4 family members among Texas plane crash victims

By Associated Press 02 July 2019, 12:00AM

DALLAS (AP) — The Latest on a deadly small plane crash at a Dallas-area airport (all times local):

8 p.m.

Church officials say two teenagers who attended Dallas-area Roman Catholic schools were among the 10 people killed in a fiery Texas plane crash along with their mother and stepfather.

The Catholic Diocese of Dallas said Monday that 15-year-old Alice Maritato and 13-year-old Dylan Maritato were killed in the crash Sunday at Addison Municipal Airport in suburban Dallas along with their mother, Ornella Ellard, and stepfather, Brian Ellard.

Dallas County confirmed the deaths of five victims on Monday, including the teens and Brian Ellard. But Ornella Ellard's name has not yet been released by the county.

Alice Maritato would have been a sophomore at John Paul II Catholic High School in Plano, while Dylan Maritato was set to enter the eighth grade at All Saints Catholic School in Dallas.

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6:25 p.m.

Dallas County officials have released the identities of five of the 10 people who died in a fiery Texas plane crash that killed everyone aboard Sunday.

Clay Jenkins, the top county official who presides over the board of commissioners, said Monday evening that 52-year-old Brian Mark Ellard, 58-year-old Stephen Lee Thelen, 28-year-old Matthew Palmer, 15-year-old Alice Maritato and 13-year-old Dylan Maritato were among those killed. The small plane crashed soon after takeoff at a municipal airport in a north Dallas suburb.

Jenkins said in a tweet that the names of the other five victims will be released after the medical examiner's office has identified their remains and informed their families.

The Beechcraft BE-350 King Air's two crew members and eight passengers were all killed when it crashed into a hangar at Addison Municipal Airport.

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5:30 p.m.

Federal officials investigating the crash of a small plane that killed 10 at a suburban Dallas airport say they've recovered the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder.

National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said at a news conference Monday afternoon that the contents of the recorder are being downloaded in their Washington laboratory. He says they don't yet know what's on the recorder. He notes that the communications between the pilots and air traffic control appeared normal.

Officials have not yet released the identities of the two crew members and eight passengers killed Sunday in the crash at the Addison Municipal Airport.

NTSB officials have said local authorities will release the identities. A spokeswoman for the town of Addison says they won't be releasing that information and the Dallas County medical examiner's office referred questions on the identities to the NTSB.

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11:10 a.m.

The former owner of a small plane that crashed at a suburban Dallas airport, killing 10, says he sold it this year to a Texas-based company.

The Beechcraft BE-350 King Air crashed into a hangar and burst into flames Sunday after taking off from Addison Municipal Airport. Officials have said two crew members and eight passengers were killed, but haven't released their identities.

Todd DeSimone, general manager of Chicago-based charter company Planemasters, said Monday that he sold the plane to a company based in Addison, Texas, called EE Operations.

No one has responded to a message left at a phone number associated with EE Operations.

EE Operations is registered in Delaware. The company's agent in Delaware said it would forward a request for comment.

By Associated Press 02 July 2019, 12:00AM

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