Oskaloosa, Kan. — A couple from Pompey were killed in a small plane crash in Kansas today, soon after taking off on the second leg of their trip to Arizona, according to a close family friend. Gregory Collis, 56, and his wife, Pindi Williams-Collis, 54, died in the crash, said Sue McSweeney, who is a friend of Greg Collis'....
This is a Beachcraft Bonanza 33A, the type of plane that crashed in Kansas today, killing a Central New York couple. Oskaloosa, Kan. — A couple from Pompey were killed in a small plane crash in Kansas today, soon after taking off on the second leg of their trip to Arizona, according to a close family friend.
Gregory Collis, 56, and his wife, Pindi Williams-Collis, 54, died in the crash, said Sue McSweeney, who is a friend of Greg Collis'.
Collis owned adult homes in Central New York. The couple lived on Broadfield Road in the town of Pompey.
The couple was flying down to Arizona for the Fourth of July weekend, McSweeney said. Gregory Collis has sisters in Arizona and Los Angeles.
McSweeney said the couple spent the night in Kansas City and took off early this morning. They were about 50 miles out when Collis sent a distress signal that the engine had stopped, McSweeney said.
About five minutes later, the fixed-wing, single-engine plane crashed in a hay field in Jefferson County, Kansas, said the sheriff there, Jeff Herrig. The impact site was about 30 square yards, he said.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration's flight log, the couple took off in the plane from the Charles Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City around 8:30 a.m. (7:30 a.m. Central Time) today.
The plane was destined for St. Johns, Arizona, according to a flight plan.
McSweeney said Collis was an experienced pilot who had flown for more than two decades. Collis also had a helicopter pilot's license, she said.
Collis ran the Manlius Home for Adults, the Highland Home for Adults, in Syracuse, and Hamilton Manor, of Hubbardsville, McSweeney said. Pindi Williams-Collis worked in the business, doing insurance billing.
Collis was active in Empire State Association of Assisted Living, the state's trade association. "We're just devastated," said Executive Director Lisa Newcomb.
Collis worked 12-hour days at his business, but loved to fly, McSweeney said. "Any day he could break away, they'd be gone in a flash," she said.
They would take trips to Niagara Falls and Martha's Vineyard, she said. He flew to Mexico and Alaska.
The National Highway Safety Board and the FAA are currently investigating the crash. Their investigation could take months, they said.
Earlier:
Authorities say two people are dead after a small plane crashed in a hayfield in northeast Kansas.
The Kansas City Star is reporting that the single-engine Beech Bonanza is owned by Syracuse Aviation Services, and that it left Hamilton, N.Y. on Wednesday.
Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff L. Herrig said the victims are a man and a woman from the East Coast. Their names are being withheld pending further investigation.
From Hamilton, the plane landed at Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City, then left that airport at 7:28 a.m. Thursday. It crashed 25 minutes later near Perry Lake after it apparently doubled back, according to Kansas City Aviation Department spokesman Joe McBride.
Records show the plane was headed to St. Johns, Ariz.
Herrig said it looks like the plane "took a nose dive into the field." A landowner saw it going down and called authorities.