Flight school owner, student pilot among dead in Massachusetts small plane crash

BOSTON — The owner of a flight school and a student pilot were among three people killed this weekend in a small plane crash in a remote, wooded area of ​​Massachusetts, state police said Monday.

Fredrika Ballard, 53, of Southwick, Mass., owned the Fly Lugu Flight School, while William Hampton, 68, of Indian Orchard, Mass., was a flight instructor. Chad Davidson, 29, of Woodstock, Connecticul, was a student pilot on the flight that crashed on Sunday. They were the only residents.

No one at Fly Lugu was available for comment.

The twin-engine Beechcraft Baron 55, which took off from Barnes Airport in Westfield at about 11:06 a.m. Sunday, crashed near Leyden, Massachusetts. Authorities began searching the crash site in the Leyden Wildlife Management Area near Greenfield around 11:30 a.m. after several dog walkers reported seeing a plane crash.

All three passengers were found dead on the plane by Greenfield Firefighters and American Medical Response paramedics.

Aviation inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration responded to the crash site on Sunday and a National Transportation Safety Board investigator was expected to arrive on Monday, state police said.

State police said the accident remains under investigation.