SIDNEY, NY – A devastating plane crash in upstate New York resulted in the deaths of five family members who were traveling for a baseball tournament. The accident occurred on Sunday afternoon, as confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The small single-engine Piper PA-46 crashed around 2 p.m. in a rural area of Delaware County, near Sidney, approximately 40 miles northeast of Binghamton. Authorities reported that the wreckage was located later that evening.
Killed in the crash were Roger Beggs, 76; Laura VanEpps, 43; Ryan VanEpps, 42; and two children, James R. VanEpps, 12, and Harrison VanEpps, 10. The family, hailing from Georgia, was visiting Cooperstown, N.Y., for a youth baseball tournament.
The aircraft had taken off from Alfred S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta, N.Y., and was en route to Atlanta, where they were planning a refueling stop in West Virginia. The cause of the crash is still unclear, with investigations led by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), along with the FAA and New York State Police.
Sarah Taylor Sulick, public affairs specialist for the NTSB, reported that further updates are expected. Dallis Wright, deputy coordinator for Delaware County Emergency Services, noted that emergency services received multiple calls regarding a plane in distress earlier on the day of the crash.