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Family of 4 Among the 10 Killed in Texas Plane Crash 'There Were Huge Flames’: Family of 4 Among 10 Victims of Texas Plane Crash
(about 3 hours later)
ADDISON, Tex. — A family of four was among the 10 people who died when a small plane crashed into an airport hangar shortly after takeoff on Sunday, according to a local Catholic school, which said one of its students, his sister, their mother and stepfather were on board. ADDISON, Tex. — Four members of a Texas family with ties to a major ranching operation and other business interests were among the 10 people who died on Sunday when a private plane crashed into an airport hangar shortly after takeoff.
All Saints Catholic School in Dallas, Tex., sent a letter to families on Monday morning saying that Dylan Maritato and his older sister, Alice Maritato, a student at John Paul II High School, were on the plane with Ornella and Brian Ellard, their mother and stepfather. Brian and Ornella Ellard, and Mrs. Ellard’s teenage children, Alice and Dylan Maritato, were killed when the plane, which appears to have been owned by Mr. Ellard’s family, crashed at a small airport in Addison, Tex., just north of Dallas.
“Dylan and Alice were loved by all their classmates and teachers,” wrote Shana Druffner, the principal of All Saints Catholic. “All will be greatly missed.” Two crew members and four other passengers also were killed. The passengers included Stephen Thelen, the managing director of a Dallas commercial real estate company, and his wife, Gina, according to a statement from Mr. Thelen’s firm.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Steve Thelen, the managing director of a Dallas commercial real estate company, and his wife, Gina, also died in the crash. On Monday evening, the Dallas County medical examiner’s office said it had identified one of the pilots as Matthew Palmer, 28.
The plane was bound for St. Petersburg, Fla., from Addison, Tex., a 4.4 square-mile community with a population of 16,000 residents north of Dallas that is heavily dependent on its small airport, which caters to business travelers. The names of the remaining three victims — one pilot and two passengers — had not been released by late Monday.
The crash came just days before the airport’s annual “Addison Kaboom Town!” air and fireworks show scheduled for Wednesday, which several publications have named one of the best fireworks shows in the country. More than a dozen inspectors from the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash on Monday. At a late-afternoon briefing, officials from the safety board said that investigators had recovered the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and were hoping it could provide details of what transpired in the moments before the plane went down.
Investigators hope to have preliminary findings in about two weeks, but full results of the inquiry aren’t expected for about 18 months, according to Bruce Landsberg, the board’s vice chairman.
A veteran pilot who was at the airport Sunday morning said he could tell from the sound of the engines that the plane was in trouble as it tried to take off just after 9 a.m.
“It clearly wasn’t making the type of power it needed to,” said the pilot, David Snell, 49, who lives in Frisco, Tex., and has been flying for more than three decades. “In 33 years, I never saw anything so tragic.”
He recalled seeing billowing flames and dark smoke after the crash.
The plane was bound for St. Petersburg, Fla., from Addison, a 4.4 square-mile community that is heavily dependent on its small municipal airport, which caters to business travelers.
The crash occurred four days before the airport’s annual “Addison Kaboom Town!” air and fireworks show, which is scheduled for Wednesday. Several publications have rated the event one of the best fireworks shows in the country.
The town’s police and fire department are both adjacent to the airport, so officers and firefighters were at the crash site almost immediately. “It was right out their back door, so the response was unbelievably quick,” said Mary Rosenbleeth, the town’s spokeswoman.The town’s police and fire department are both adjacent to the airport, so officers and firefighters were at the crash site almost immediately. “It was right out their back door, so the response was unbelievably quick,” said Mary Rosenbleeth, the town’s spokeswoman.
On Monday, more than a dozen investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were trying to determine the cause of the crash. Mr. Ellard, 52, was a part-owner of an Italian restaurant in Dallas, and a son of Jo McPhail Ellard, the owner of EE Ranches, which has locations in Texas and Mississippi. Last year, Ms. Ellard sold her family-owned insurance company for $405 million, according to The Dallas Morning News.
“We’re still in the very early stages of this investigation right now,” said Terry Williams, a spokesman for the agency. “It’s going to be quite some time before we get to that point.” The plane that crashed on Sunday, a Beechcraft King Air 350, was purchased earlier this year by EE Operations, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. That company shares a registered agent with Ms. Ellard’s ranches.
Two crew members and eight passengers died in the crash, which occurred shortly after 9 a.m. on Sunday. The names of the crew members and two additional passengers had not been released Monday afternoon. Mr. Ellard’s restaurant, Mille Lire, posted a message on its Facebook page Monday saying it was “incredibly saddened by the tragic loss” of Mr. Ellard and his family. His wife was an architect and interior designer who was born and raised in Italy, according to her company website; her children were students at Catholic schools in the Dallas area.
All Saints Catholic said Dylan Maritato would have started eighth grade in the fall, and his sister, Alice Maritato, would have been a sophomore at John Paul II High School after the summer. “Dylan and Alice were loved by all their classmates and teachers,” Shana Druffner, the principal of All Saints Catholic, wrote in a message to parents of students at the school, where Dylan would have started eighth grade in the fall. His sister, Alice, would have been a sophomore at John Paul II High School after the summer. “All will be greatly missed,” Ms. Druffner wrote.
A community Mass is planned for Wednesday morning at All Saints Catholic Church, the school said. “Please especially keep Michele Maritato, Dylan and Alice’s father, in your prayers during this most difficult time,” Ms. Druffner wrote.A community Mass is planned for Wednesday morning at All Saints Catholic Church, the school said. “Please especially keep Michele Maritato, Dylan and Alice’s father, in your prayers during this most difficult time,” Ms. Druffner wrote.
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the plane as a Beechcraft King Air 350, a small turboprop often used for business trips. The hangar, which is privately owned, had a jet and a helicopter inside, officials said. Both were damaged. Clay Jenkins, the Dallas County judge and director of homeland security and emergency management, said on Monday that the county medical examiner was still seeking to confirm the identities of the 10 victims, and that families had been asked to provide medical and dental records and to report any scars, tattoos or jewelry that could help identify their loved ones.
The hangar that the plane struck, which is privately owned, had a jet and a helicopter inside at the time, officials said. Both aircraft were damaged.
“The plane banked hard to the left, went into the hangar, and then within minutes — two to three minutes — there were huge flames,” Mr. Jenkins said. “The fire department is literally the closest building to that hangar, so they were able to quickly get there, but there was obviously nothing that could be done to save people.”
He called Addison a “unique place,” and noted that the town had been preparing for its biggest celebration of the year.
Dan Reed, another spokesman for the town of Addison, said the Kaboom Town! celebration would go on as scheduled, but that it would include a recognition of the victims of the crash and of the police and firefighters who responded.
Mr. Reed said the town’s population of 13,000 residents swells to about 60,000 each workday because of the many large companies that have headquarters or regional offices there.
“Addison is a small town, but it’s economic presence is way outsized. You could say the same for Addison Airport,” Mr. Reed said.