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UPDATE: Two killed in plane crash

Photo provided by Houston Barber Firefighters attempt to douse flames Tuesday morning at the scene of a plane crash at Pioneer Buick GMC north of Marietta.

UPDATE:

RENO — A Parkersburg resident was aboard the plane crashed this morning at a Marietta automobile dealership.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol announced that Eric S. Seevers, 45, of Parkersburg, and Timothy F. Gifford, 49, of Orient, Ohio, were the occupants of the plane, which went down at Pioneer Buick GMC on Ohio 7 just north of Marietta, killing them both.

Parkersburg resident Wayne Waldeck said he and Lee Rector, who own the Blennerhassett Hotel, were scheduled to fly to Florida today on the plane. Waldeck said they had flown on that plane with those pilots multiple times.

“The plane was coming to pick up Lee and I to take us to Fort Lauderdale,” he said. “The pilots were excellent pilots. … Our hearts are broken.”

Photo provided by Houston Barber Cars burn after a plane crashed Tuesday morning at Pioneer Buick GMC along Ohio 7 north of Marietta.

The 1974 Beechcraft King Air E90 crashed in the lot at 1000 Pike St., Marietta, this morning, according to Lt. Nathan Dennis, with the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Public Affairs Unit. The plane took off from John Glenn International Airport in Columbus around 6:35 a.m., he said.

The incident was reported to the patrol around 7:15 a.m.

The patrol is investigating the incident, along with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, Dennis said.

Parkersburg resident Amber Davis works at Fastenal near the dealership and was there early Tuesday morning.

“We heard a loud screech or sound or something, we didn’t know quite what it was, and then followed by a huge explosion,” she said. They went outside and saw “thick, thick, thick black smoke” coming from the dealership.

Photo provided by Houston Barber A plane burns after crashing at Pioneer Buick GMC Tuesday morning north of Marietta.

At least eight vehicles on the lot caught fire.

“Fortunately, no one else was injured as a result,” Dennis said. “Nobody that was on the ground, in the car lot at the time, in the building.”

MARIETTA — The owners of the Blennerhassett Hotel in Parkersburg were scheduled to fly to Florida today on a plane that crashed in Marietta this morning on its way to the local airport.

“The plane was coming to pick up Lee (Rector) and I to take us to Fort Lauderdale,” Wayne Waldeck said. “Our hearts are broken.”

The 1974 Beechcraft King Air E90 crashed in a lot at Pioneer Buick GMC on Ohio 7 in Reno just north of Marietta this morning, according to Lt. Nathan Dennis, with the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Public Affairs Unit. The plane took off from John Glenn International Airport in Columbus around 6:35 a.m., he said.

Law enforcement at the plane crash.

The incident was reported to the patrol around 7:15 a.m.

“There were two occupants that were onboard at the time of the crash,” Dennis said. “Both of those occupants have been confirmed deceased at this time.”

Authorities did not release the names of the individuals, pending notification of their families.

Waldeck said he and Rector had flown with them before and said they “were excellent pilots.”

The patrol is investigating the incident, along with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, Dennis said.

Parkersburg resident Amber Davis works at Fastenal near the dealership and was there early Tuesday morning.

“We heard a loud screech or sound or something, we didn’t know quite what it was, and then followed by a huge explosion,” she said. They went outside and saw “thick, thick, thick black smoke” coming from the dealership.

At least eight vehicles on the lot caught fire.

“Fortunately, no one else was injured as a result,” Dennis said. “Nobody that was on the ground, in the car lot at the time, in the building.”

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