WARRENTON, Va. – The names of the two victims of Monday’s small plane collision in Virginia have been released by Canadian investigators.
Paul Gardella, Jr., 57, of Burke, Va., and 60-year-old James M. Duncan of Bethesda, Md., died in the crash. Duncan was the pilot of the plane.
The investigation into the deadly mid-air collision was taken over by the Canadian Traffic Safety Board Tuesday because the planes involved were owned by U.S. federal aviation and transportation officials.
Duncan worked with the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB confirmed Tuesday that one of its employees owned the six-seat Beechcraft BE-25 involved in the crash.
The pilot of the other plane — a Piper PA-28 — is an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration. Seventy-year-old Thomas Proven was listed in good condition at a local hospital Tuesday.
“This accident hits especially close to home, with the involvement of an NTSB employee,” says Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman. “I’m grateful to TSB-Canada Chair Wendy Tadros for agreeing to conduct the investigation and the NTSB stands ready to support and assist them in any way we can.”
Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller says one of the planes caught fire after Monday’s collision. The planes went down about a mile apart, and debris was scattered between the two crash sites.
FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown says a Piper PA-28 operated by the injured pilot appeared to be headed to the Warrenton-Fauquier airport.
The Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is responsible for making the identifications and death notifications.
Fauquier resident Debbie Underwood told The Free Lance-Star she and her daughter were enjoying Memorial Day with family when she saw the planes crash into each other.
“They looked like they were going to do an aerial,” says Underwood, who frequently sees small planes from the nearby Flying Circus doing stunts.
Bill Iames was in his garage when he heard a bang and “looked out the window and saw smoke coming up” from a wooded area across the road. He and others ran to the crash scene but the plane was a crumpled mass of burning debris.
“You couldn’t even tell it was a plane,” Iames says.
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