Coroner: 2 dead after 2 planes collide at NE Indiana airport

MARION, Ind. – A coroner says two people died after two planes collided at a northeastern Indiana airport.

Grant County Coroner Chris Butche has identified the victims as the pilot, 31-year-old Kyle Hibst, and passenger, 31-year-old David Wittkamper, both of Elwood. They were members of the Pipe Creek Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Butche tells WTHR-TV a Cessna 150 carrying Hibst and Wittkamper took off from Marion Municipal Airport on Monday and clipped a larger Cessna 525 CitationJet that was landing. He says the smaller plane crashed and caught fire.

Butche says the five people on the larger plane weren’t injured.

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration says it will investigate the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified, and will be in charge of the investigation.