5 IU music students die in plane crash

Late Thursday night April 20th, 2006, Zachary Novak, Georgina Joshi, Garth Eppley, Chris Carducci and Robert Samels died in a plane crash when they were on their way back from a rehearsal in Lafayette, Indiana. Georgina, who has been described as an good pilot, was flying the plane. The plane crashed just south of the Monroe County Airport while attempting to land around 11:40pm. The plane went down in a thickly wooded area. Initial attempts to locate the plane were unsuccessful due to fog and the dense woods. The Civil Air Patrol picked up an emergency transponder pulse when they flew over the crash site, making it easier to find. Investigators of the crash believe the plane went down nose first and found no evidence of a fire. The Monroe County Deputy Coroner Nicole Meyer, said that all 5 people on board died from blunt force trauma.

According to police radio reports, the aircraft was a 1978 Cessna U206G. The plane is owned by Yatish Air, LLC and licensed out of South Bend.

This event made worldwide news as it appeared in over 625 publications around the world according to Google News.

Links

• IU Mourns - IDS News (2006-04-24)
• Biographies of IU students killed in crash - Chicago Tribune (2006-04-21)
• A Great Loss Heard Bulletin (Anderson newspaper, 2006-04-21)