A wealthy steel magnate and his family were the victims killed in a plane crash in Ohio — after their twin-engine aircraft went down just minutes after taking off for their vacation to Montana.
James “Jim” Weller, 67, owner of Liberty Steel Industries Inc; his wife Veronica, 68; their son John, 36; and daughter-in-law Maria, 34; were traveling to Bozeman, Montana when the Cessna they were traveling in suddenly went down, WMFJ reports.
The pilot, Joseph Maxin, 63 and co-pilot, 55-year-old Timothy Blake, were also killed when the plane crash just seven minutes after taking off from Youngstown Regional Airport on Sunday.
The aircraft went down around two miles west of the airport in the backyard of a home in a heavily wooded area.
The crash was described as the deadliest in the area’s history by Howland Township Fire Chief Raymond Pace.
First responders struggled to reach the crash site due to the dense woods, but were eventually able to recover all six bodies.
