The Latest: 10 killed in Texas plane crash identified

By Associated Press 03 July 2019, 12:00AM

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

4:45 p.m.

Local officials have released the names all ten people who were killed in a small plane crash at an airport north of Dallas.

Judge Clay Jenkins, the top Dallas County official, said Tuesday evening that 71-year-old Howard Hale Cassady and 57-year-old Gina Cunningham Thelen were among those killed when the twin-engine plane crashed into a hangar soon after takeoff at the Addison Municipal Airport.

The county previously identified the dead to include 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.

Jenkins said in a tweeted statement that the medical examiner's office confirmed the deaths of 45-year-old Ornella Ellard, 60-year-old Mary Martha Titus and 61-year-old John Leo Titus, who were previously identified by local groups.

The Catholic Diocese of Dallas says Ornella Ellard was the wife of Brian Ellard and mother of Alice and Dylan Maritato.

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11:55 a.m.

Federal officials say the flight crew discussed a left engine problem just before a small plane crashed at a suburban Dallas airport, killing all 10 on board.

Witnesses and authorities have said the Beechcraft BE-350 King Air struggled to gain altitude before veering to the left and crashing into a hangar at the Addison Municipal Airport Sunday morning. Two crew members and eight passengers died.

National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said at a Tuesday news conference that the crew discussion was heard on the cockpit voice recorder, which was recovered from the charred wreckage.

Landsberg says the plane was cleared for takeoff about a minute before the recording ended. He says crew comments "consistent with confusion" were followed by comments regarding a problem with the left engine.

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9:10 a.m.

Two more of the 10 people who were killed in a small plane crash at a suburban Dallas airport have been publicly identified.

Jinky Hicks, the presiding director of Tennis Competitors of Dallas, said in an email Monday that a league director, Mary Titus, and her husband, John, were among the eight passengers who were killed in Sunday morning's crash.

She says five other members of the organization were also aboard the Beechcraft BE-350 King Air, which crashed moments after taking off from Addison Municipal Airport.

The plane was supposed to fly to St. Petersburg, Florida.

Eight of the 10 people killed in the fiery crash now have been identified.

Witnesses and authorities say the aircraft struggled to gain altitude before veering into a hangar not far from a busy commercial strip and densely populated residential neighborhoods.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Jinky Hicks is a woman, not a man.

By Associated Press 03 July 2019, 12:00AM

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