FREMONT, Ohio, June 8 (UPI) -- Six people were killed Sunday afternoon when their single-engine airplane crashed near Fremont Airport in Ohio, authorities said.
The dead included the 86-year-old pilot, Gene Damschroder Sr., a former state lawmaker from Fremont; Bill Ansted, 62, of Lindsey; Allison Ansted, 23, of Lindsey; Danielle Gerwin, 31, of Gibsonburg; Emily Gerwin, 4, of Gibsonburg; and Matt Clearman, 25, of Maumee; The Blade in Toledo reported.
The Ohio Highway Patrol told the newspaper the Cessna 68 went down in a residential area shortly after takeoff. There were no survivors and no one on the ground was hurt.
Damschroder's son, Rex, said his father had held a Lions' Club pancake breakfast at the airport and was taking people for airplane rides.
"One of the witnesses told me he heard the engine sputter, but that was about it," said the younger Damschroder, who was not at the airport when the accident occurred.
Federal Aviation Administration officials were on the scene and the National Transportation Safety Board dispatched investigators, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.
