Philadelphia Inquirer Co-Owner Lewis Katz, 6 Others, Die In Massachusetts Plane Crash

Philadelphia Inquirer co-owner Lewis Katz and six others died in a fiery plane crash at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts.

The plane rolled off the runway, crashed into an antenna and then into a fence as it prepared to take off for Atlantic City, New Jersey, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

Katz, 72, who also co-owned the Daily news and Philly.com, had attended an education-related event in Concord earlier in the day, the Inquirer reported.

An airport employee told NTSB investigators the Gulfstream IV plane hit an antenna after rolling off the runway and ran through a fence, the Boston Globe reported. Debris was scattered over 2,000 feet, and the flight data recorder and black box had yet to be recovered Sunday afternoon.

Katz' son Drew will replace his father on the newspapers' governing board, Philadelphia Magazine reported.

Katz, a self-made millionaire, and business partner H.F. Lenfest recently won an auction for the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com. They agreed to pay $88 million, ending a power struggle with George E. Norcross III, Joseph Buckelew and William Hankowsky, the New York Times reported.

Katz was a graduate of Temple University and Dickinson School of Law at Penn State. He was a former owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team and the New Jersey Devils hockey team.

Katz is survived by his daughter Melissa Katz Silver in addition to his son.