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Baxter County Patrol Vehicle

Tuesday, 10 PM Update-Plane Crash, Identity of Victims

09/07/2010

Update 10 pm:   Baxter County Criminal Investigators have confirmed the identities of the two victims in the fatal plane crash on Tuesday. Documents and pictures from a digital cell phone found at the scene were sent electronically to a family member in California. The relative confirmed information that the 6 passenger private plane, a Cessna T-210 registered to Monterey Bay Aviation of Watsonville, California, left Danville, Illinois at approximately 9:30am Tuesday morning. The plane was en route to Austin, Texas. At this time it is believed there were only two persons on board at the time of the crash.

The victims are father and son. The father, 62 Year old Robert Joseph Ross of Santa Cruz, CA, was a flight instructor for United Flying Services of Watsonville, CA.

The son, 32 Year old Michael C. Ross, lived in Austin, Texas.

The family member confirmed both father and son were pilots. It is unknown who was flying the plane at the time of the crash.

It is unknown at this time why they were flying over Baxter County at the time of the crash. The FAA stated there were no distress calls from the pilot.

Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be in Baxter County Wednesday morning to begin their investigation.

The weather was overcast, low clouds and rain, temperature 79 degrees.

Sheriff John Montgomery

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UPDATE: Two persons are confirmed dead at the plane crash site according to Sheriff's Investigators. Their bodies are being removed by the Baxter County Coroner's Office. Their identity has not been established. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be in Baxter County Wednesday morning to begin their investigation.
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Baxter County Sheriff's personnel and other emergency responders are still at the scene of a plane crash that occurred in rural Baxter County in the Buffalo City area. AT approximately 12:26 PM, the Sheriff's office was notified of a 911 call received from a citizen residing in that area that he had heard and seen a plane crash in the woods near the Buffalo City area.
Baxter County Sheriff's Lieutenant Rick Lucy was the first person to arrive on scene at approximately 12:33 PM. He verified that a plane had crashed into a remote wooded area off Inwood Lane. The approximate coordinates are: N 36.11.702, W -92.26.718. The remains of the plane were on fire, and the Buford Volunteer Fire Department was already en route, as was an ambulance from Baxter Regional Medical Center.
No additional information is available at this time. Investigators do not know the type of aircraft, number of occupants, or the origin or destination of the flight. The Federal Aviation Administration has been contacted, and Investigators remain on scene.
Additional information will be released as it becomes available.
/s/ John F. Montgomery,