FAA: 3 dead in Missouri plane crash

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Three people died Thursday after a single-engine plane crashed in Montgomery County northwest of St. Louis, authorities said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft took off from Spirit of St. Louis Airport in suburban St. Louis and went down near the northwestern corner of Montgomery County. The Piper 46 was headed for Buffalo, Minn., according to the FAA.

The agency said three people died and no one survived the crash.

Elizabeth Isham Cory, spokeswoman for the FAA's office in Chicago, said the plane's tail number is N477MD, registered to an aviation services company, McC Aviation Services of Rockford, Minn.

At company headquarters for McC Inc., Chief Financial Officer Mark Schmid confirmed Thursday that company president David McCormick and engineering manager Dan Shefland were attending an ethanol fuel conference this week in St. Louis.

He said the company also does business as McCormick Construction in Greenfield, Minn.

Schmid declined to comment further, saying "we're still trying to get official word."

Sgt. Al Nothum with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said he was not releasing names until next of kin were contacted.

He said authorities had located three bodies that had occupied the plane where it crashed outside of Wellsville.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating, Cory said.

She said the plane took off from Spirit airport around 8 a.m.; the FAA lost contact with it at 8:15 a.m.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop F in Jefferson City said local law enforcement received phone calls from citizens reporting they had heard a plane with engine trouble.

Calls came in shortly after 8 a.m. The patrol said officers found the field where the plane crashed after 10 a.m.