http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/oh-lake/plane-crashes-in-willoughby-hills-in-lake-county
WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio – Four people were killed when a plane crashed in Willoughby Hills in Lake County, inches from the county line near the Cuyahoga County Airport.
The crash happened at around 10 p.m. at Bishop Road and Curtiss Wright Parkway at the Northeast corner of the airport.
At the first press conference, officials said the crash happened shortly after takeoff but the Ohio State Highway Patrol tells NewsChannel5 that FAA investigators haven’t yet determined whether the plane was landing or taking off.
Bishop Road will remain closed until the NTSB investigation is complete. NTSB investigators are not expected until 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Tyler Evans was driving down Bishop Road when he saw the crash.
“It took off, it stalled, went up hooked and then it went down and crashed over here,” he said.
Neighbors reported the plane sounded like it was having trouble before it crashed.
“We heard the propeller, like you could here that something was wrong with it,” said Ruzanna Tovmasyan who then heard the crash. “All of us were running towards the airplane trying to help but the flames got even worse, I just thank God that it didn’t land on our house,” she said.
Another neighbor Mark Gerald also heard the engine sputtering.
“Kind of like a backfiring sound, like the engine was trying to quit,” he said. “You knew there was something wrong with the motor no question. We hear these planes all day long.”
Gerald yelled for his son to call 911 then ran towards the wreckage.
“I probably got about halfway there–boom, the fuel tank went. I got up really as close as I can but it was just too hot, too involved, there was nothing I could do.”
In April of 2009, a plane carrying two attorneys from Buffalo crashed just after takeoff killing both men.
