Officials said Sunday that the pilot reported engine problems.
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Mayor Bobby Herndon of Northport, AL explains, “It was an aircraft landing in Tuscaloosa Regional Airport and it sent out a distressed signal”. The other 10 children are with loved ones as they mourn the loss of their parents.
The Fareses were in central Florida for a dental seminar, according to the Eagle.
The plane left the Kissimmee Gateway airport in Florida at 9:55 a.m. eastern time this morning.
Kyle Campbell, the sports information director of Ole Miss Athletics, says the three men killed in the crash were all members of the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation.
A prayer service organized by family friends will be held at Rafters Bar and Grill at 6 p.m, as well.
The Piper PA-31 that crashed in Alabama was registered to a private charter company, Oxford University Aircraft Charters, that shared an address with a dental office in Oxford, according to online aircraft records.
FAA records showed the twin-engine aircraft was manufactured in 1984.
Mississippi State Representative Jay Hughes identified the victims as Lea and Jason Farese, Angie and Austin Poole and Kim and Michael Perry, CBS affiliate WIAT reported.
All three couples leave behind in total 11 children varying in age. Their youngest had started kindergarten this week. Dr. Perry has five dental practices located in Memphis, Collierville, Bartlett, Oxford, and Southaven.
Dr. Austin Poole and his wife Angie from Clarksdale, MS were two of the six victims in Sunday’s plane crash.
“It’s with a heavy heart I express my honest condolences to the family and friends mourning the sudden loss of the six people killed in Sunday morning’s plane crash in Northport”, said University of Alabama President Stuart R. Bell.
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The small plane crashed in a park near the Alabama Airport where it was expected to land, investigators said.
