McLean County officials confirm seven people died when a Cessna 414 crashed into a field sometime overnight northeast of Bloomington. Sheriff Jon Sandage says air traffic controllers in Peoria lost radar contact with the private plane around 12:15 AM. About three hours later, a Bloomington police officer discovered the wreckage just north of Route 9 east of the city. Sandage says rescue workers feared all were dead.
"At approximately 4:15 this morning, McLean County coroner's office personnel arrived and pronounced all seven occupants of the plane deceased."
Sandage refused to release any information about the incident, except to say it had departed from Indianapolis late last night. Sandage did say the victims don't appear to be related and no children were on board. He would not confirm the victims had attended the NCAA basketball championship game. There was heavy fog when the crash occurred but authorities refused to discuss a possible cause.
In an email to campus, ISU President Larry Dietz confirmed men's basketball assistant coach Torrey Ward and assistant athletic director Aaron Leetch were among the seven who died. In his statement, Dietz said, "Words cannot fully express the grief that is felt in the wake of such a tragedy. We move between shock and profound sadness. At times like these we may even question our deeply held beliefs and wonder what the future will hold."
Central Illinois Regional Airport Director Carl Olson says Peoria airport officials were in charge of traffic control when the plane apparently went down sometime after midnight.
"The pilot did not cancel his flight plan or close his flight plan upon arrival, which is when Peoria approach contacted the airport authority for assistance."
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are conducting a probe. The coroner's office is not releasing names of victims, pending notification of family members.