Aug 13, 2008 12:42 pm US/Eastern
'Mission Of Mercy' Ends Tragically For LI Couple
Riverhead Leukemia Patient Was Heading To Dana Farber Cancer Institute In Boston With His Wife
Donna And Robert Gregory Left Behind 4-Year-Old Twins
EASTON, Mass. (CBS) ―
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A Long Island couple was killed after a plane they were in crashed in Easton, Massachusetts on August 12, 2008.
CBS
A small airplane crashed in the parking lot of a Massachusetts shopping plaza Tuesday morning, killing all three people on board, including a couple from Long Island.
The single-engine, six-seat Beechcraft Bonanza landed on an embankment separating a road from shopping plaza around 10:25.
Witnesses say they saw it wobbling in the sky before it took a nosedive into the parking lot where it crashed and burst into flames.
Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, confirmed the plane was part of Angel Flight, a non-profit group that transports patients with medical conditions needing help.
Investigators confirmed that the couple killed in the crash had left from Westhampton. They were identified as 38-year-old Robert Gregory, who was on his way to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston to receive treatment for leukemia, and his wife Donna, of Riverhead.
Donna Gregory, 37, was a Riverhead mother of 4-year-old twins who wrote last year in her blog that her husband, Robert, suffered from chronic lymphocytic leukemia:
"I have dealt with life-and-death type situations several times over the past few years," she wrote. But surely none so tragic as Tuesday morning.
"Robert is a regular for Angel Flights to Massachusetts for three or four years now," said Andrew Gronenman, a family friend.
The couple leaves behind two 4-year-old twins, Bobby and Amanda.
According to Angel Flight, the FAA notified the company that it had lost radar contact with the plane around 10:30 a.m.
"We at Angel Flight are deeply saddened by this news and our sympathies go out to the families of those involved," Amy Camerlin, a spokesperson for the company, said in a release.
The registered owner of the plane is Janet Keene of Brookfield, Conn., but she was not on board, according to her husband Kenneth Keene, who called the crash "a disaster."
Kenneth Keene said his wife inherited the plane and sometimes hired a pilot so they could use it recreationally, since neither of them could fly it. He said the plane was used by Angel Flight about once a month and he knew about no problems with the aircraft.
Arthur Dechellis, a manager of a supermarket near the site of the crash, says he heard an explosion and when he looked outside a two-seat plane was on fire. He says the plane crashed in a remote corner of the parking lot where people rarely park and no cars were hit.
He says the store remains open and customers are going in and out.
Ashmita Kohli, an employee of a Quizno's in the plaza, told Boston CBS station WBZ-TV she saw at least one body at the scene.
"You could hear a plane then a big boom," she said. "It looks like a movie set right now."
Khol said the plane was engulfed in flames.
Mansfield Airport is located nearby. Officials there had no comment.
The plaza is home to Hannford's, Quizno's, as well as Target and T.J. Maxx department stores.
According to Angel Flight, the company has safely flown more than 53,000 children and adults to medical care on 30,000 flights over the last 12 years.
Federal investigators are expected to arrive at the site of the crash on Wednesday.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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