Crash of small plane kills Jewish seminary’s president

WAWAYANDA, N.Y. – A small plane crashed just after taking off from an airport, killing the president of a seminary for Reform Judaism.

Rabbi Aaron Panken died on Saturday, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute said.

An Aeronca 7AC aircraft had just taken off from Randall Airport in Middletown, about 70 miles (112 kilometres) northwest of New York City, when it crashed, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Two people were on board, said the FAA, which didn’t release their names or conditions. The state police didn’t immediately reply to a call or an email seeking information.

A spokeswoman for the seminary, Jean Rosensaft, said Panken was a skilled pilot and the flight was a routine one. There was no information available about the second person on the plane.

Panken, who was 53 years old, had been installed as the seminary’s president in 2014. He joined the institute’s faculty in 1995 and served as dean of students and vice-president for strategic initiatives.

The seminary has campuses in New York City, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Jerusalem.

Panken had most recently presided over graduation ceremonies in New York City on Thursday. In his remarks, he spoke of a world that is “particularly challenging and painful” at this time but said “the Jewish people, and our religious friends of other faiths, have seen this before, and we have lived through it and thrived and built again and again and again.”