6 killed in a crash of a small plane in near Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Six people were killed when a small plane crashed minutes after taking off from an Ohio airport, officials said.

The Cessna 441 with six people on board crashed near Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport on Sunday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Agency records show it was registered to Meander Air LLC of Warren, Ohio.

There were no survivors in the crash, Western Reserve Port Authority Executive Director Anthony Trevena said at a news conference. The agency owns the airport.

Trumbull County Coroner Lawrence D’Amico on Monday identified the victims as the pilot, Joseph Maxin, 63; co-pilot Timothy Blake, 55; and passengers Veronica Weller, 68; her husband, James Weller, 67; their son, John Weller, 36, and his wife, Maria Weller, 34.

D’Amico said the family — which owns steel manufacturing plants in the Youngstown-Warren area — was heading for a vacation in Montana.

Maxin was the port authority’s director of compliance and also a former assistant prosecutor for the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office.

It was difficult to get to the site of the crash in a heavily wooded area, Howland Township Fire Chief Raymond Pace said.

“This is an extremely tragic situation, but it could have been worse,” Pace said, noting that there were three houses near the spot where the plane crashed.

Publicly available flight tracking data showed that the plane’s destination was Bozeman, Montana, said Michael Hillman, president of aviation company JETS FBO Network.

“These were the best of the best in terms of the folks here at the field, as well as the pilots. I can’t say enough about them,” Hillman said at the news conference. “I’d give anything to rewind the day and take them to breakfast instead.”

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.