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Massachusetts Plane Crash Kills Flight School Owner, Instructor, and Student

The twin-engine Beechcraft 55 Baron crashed shortly after takeoff from Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, with the cause of the crash currently under investigation.

  • Fredrika Ballard, owner of Fly Lugu Flight School, flight instructor William Hampton, and student pilot Chad Davidson were killed in a plane crash in Massachusetts.
  • The plane, a twin-engine Beechcraft 55 Baron, took off from Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport and crashed near Leyden.
  • Emergency workers responded to calls from dog walkers in the Leyden Wildlife Management Area, where they found the wreckage and the bodies of the three victims.
  • Ballard, a second-generation pilot, frequently flew the ill-fated six-seater to various destinations across the region.
  • The National Transportation Safety Board has sent an investigator to the site and the cause of the crash is currently unknown.
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