Small plane crashes at Rickenbacker International Airport in Ohio, killing two

Small plane crashes at Rickenbacker International Airport in Ohio, killing two

2011-06-20 02:31:30 GMT+7 (ICT)

COLUMBUS, OHIO (BNO NEWS) -- Two people were killed on early Sunday morning when a small plane crashed at Rickenbacker International Airport in central Ohio, state police said.

The accident happened at around 8.52 a.m. local time when a Cirrus CR22 airplane was attempting to take off on a flight to New Jersey and crashed east of the runway. The plane caught fire upon impact, killing both the pilot and his passenger.

After the accident, the bomb squad of the Columbus Division of Fire was called to the scene to deactivate a parachute deployment charge that the plane was equipped with. The parachute charge was deactivated without incident.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol identified the pilot as 54-year-old Viswanathan Rajaraman of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. His passenger was identified as 50-year-old Mary J. Sundaram, who is also of Franklin Lakes.

According to federal records, the 2008-built aircraft was registered to Buds Aviation LLC out of Bergen, New Jersey.

It was not immediately known what caused the accident, which will be investigated by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

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