4 dead, including student and teacher, in Vermont plane crash

Four people are dead after a small plane crashed in Vermont on Sunday, police said.

Vermont State Police identified the deceased as Paul Pelletier, 55; Frank Rodriguez, 88; Susan Van Ness, 51; and Delilah Van Ness, 15.

Pelletier was an aerospace and manufacturing teacher at Middletown Public Schools in Connecticut, the school said in a statement. Delilah Van Ness, a sophomore, was one of his students, and Susan Van Ness was her mother.

“This unimaginable loss has left a void in our hearts and our community,” said the district’s superintendent, Alberto Vázquez Matos. “Paul, Delilah, and Susan were special individuals whose absence is already being felt throughout our district and city.”

Officials did not provide information on Rodriguez’s connection to the others in the crash.

Delilah Van Ness had been taking flight lessons with Pelletier, according to New Haven, Connecticut, ABC affiliate WTNH.

Police said the four departed Sunday morning in a privately owned four-seat aircraft from Windham Airport in Connecticut and flew about two hours to Basin Harbor Airport in Ferrisburgh, Vermont. Upon reaching their destination, the occupants had brunch, then left the restaurant shortly after noon to fly back to Connecticut.

A witness said they saw the airplane on the runway at about 12:15 p.m. local time, state police said.

State police said they did not receive any reports of a plane crash or an aircraft in distress, but after the plane did not return to Connecticut, relatives contacted police.

Just after midnight on Monday, investigators found the crashed aircraft in a wooded area east of the airport in Vermont.

All four occupants were found dead.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

Middletown High School will be closed Tuesday, and crisis teams will be made available for members of the school community in need of counseling or other support, the school said.

“As the community grieves, Middletown Public Schools calls for unity and mutual support,” the school said in a statement. “The district aims to honor the memory of Paul, Delilah, and Susan by upholding their legacies of compassion, dedication, and kindness.”