ONEONTA, N.Y. (NEWS10) A family of five visiting from Georgia for a baseball tournament has been killed in a plane crash in Delaware County.
The ill-fated flight took off from Alfred S Nader Airport in Oneonta. It was bound for Georgia with a fuel stop in West Virginia, tragically it never made it there. Masonville’s fire chief who did not want to be interviewed told NEWS10’s Zion Decoteau that their dispatch got word of the crash at 1:57 P.M. Sunday.
Following a multi-agency search led by the Trout Creek Fire Department, the Piper Malibu Mirage plane was discovered at 8:35 PM in the woods off Lake Cecil Road in Masonville. The area is situated in the rural back roads and rugged mountainous terrain of Delaware County.
An apparent airplane part surrounded by evidence markers and caution tape was found on a back road opposite from the woods where the plane crashed.
A family of five from Georgia headed back from a baseball tournament in nearby Cooperstown perished on the plane. New York State Police identified the souls on board as Roger Beggs, age 76. Laura VanEpps, age 43, Ryan VanEpps, age 42. Among the fatalities were two children. James R. VanEpps, age 12 and Harrison VanEpps, age 10.
The NTSB and FAA investigations continue in this matter.
