Louisiana, United States: Three people from Texas were killed when a small twin-engine Beechcraft Baron aircraft crashed in a field near Gloria Switch Road and Louisiana Highway 93 in Lafayette Parish on Tuesday. Federal investigators have begun examining the wreckage to determine what caused the fatal accident.
According to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, the crash occurred shortly after 11:00 a.m. local time on October 21. Emergency responders were dispatched to a rural area outside Carencro, where the aircraft went down and burst into flames upon impact. No survivors were found at the scene.
Authorities identified the victims as Bruce Verduyn, 58, Justin Ramsey, 42, and Lydia Laws, 46, all residents of the Houston metropolitan area Verduyn and Ramsey from The Woodlands, and Laws from Spring, Texas.
Flight tracking data reviewed by local outlets indicated that a Beechcraft Baron registered as N16PV departed from Hooks Memorial Airport near Houston around 9:53 a.m. and disappeared from radar approximately an hour later near the Lafayette crash site.
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have taken charge of the investigation. Preliminary findings have not yet been released, and authorities have not confirmed the flight’s destination or purpose.
Sheriff’s deputies secured the area while firefighters worked to extinguish the flames and recover the remains. The debris field reportedly covered a significant portion of private farmland.
Local residents described hearing a loud engine noise followed by a heavy thud before smoke rose from the site. Weather conditions in the area were reported as mostly clear at the time of the incident, though investigators have not ruled out any factors, including possible mechanical failure or pilot distress.
The FAA said a full accident report will be published after the NTSB concludes its investigation, which could take months.
