Four Die In Private Plane Crash While Returning Home From Brunch

A high school student and their aviation teacher were among the victims

delilah van ness paul pelletier — Delilah Van Ness was a student and Paul Pelletier was a teacher at Middletown High School. Middletown Public Schools

Four people were killed in a private plane crash Sunday while on their way back to Connecticut after grabbing brunch in Vermont.

The four-seat aircraft had initially departed from Windham Airport in Connecticut at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday and arrived at Basin Harbor Airport in Vermont about two hours later. The group made it to their brunch reservation, and their plane was last seen by a witness on the runway at about 12:15 p.m. Sunday, according to a press release from Vermont State Police.

No reports indicating distress or a crash were received.

After the plane failed to return to Windham Airport at their designated time, relatives reported the situation to Connecticut State Police and the Middletown (Connecticut) Police Department, who then notified Vermont State Police at about 10:20 p.m. after cell phone location data indicated that the plane's last known location was near the airport.

Investigators were able to locate the site of the crash with a drone at about 12:20 a.m. Monday in a wooded area east of Basin Harbor Airport.

The plane's passengers, 55-year-old Paul Pelletier, 88-year-old Frank Rodriguez, 51-year-old Susan Van Ness and 15-year-old Delilah Van Ness were all declared deceased at the scene. Middletown Public Schools said in a statement that Delilah was a sophomore at Middletown High School. Authorities said she had been taking flight lessons with Pelletier, the aerospace and manufacturing teacher.

"This unimaginable loss has left a void in our hearts and our community," Middletown School Superintendent Alberto Vázquez Matos said in a statement. "Paul, Delilah and Susan were special individuals whose absence is already being felt throughout our district and city."

The school district announced Monday that Middletown High School would be closed Tuesday and that all scheduled athletic activities would be rescheduled.

The victims' bodies were taken to the medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death. The crash remains under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.