Midair crash kills four

Two planes collide over Rootstown Township. Witnesses see debris fall onto fields in Portage

By Stephen Dyer and Lisa Abraham

Beacon Journal staff writers


ROOTSTOWN TWP. - When Don Litsinger heard the explosion, the 45-year-old contractor ran outside the Tallmadge Road home where he was working and witnessed a horrible sight.

All he could see, he said, were ``pieces of steel floating in the air.''

``There were wings going everywhere,'' he said.

Litsinger watched in disbelief as two small planes fell to the ground after colliding in midair over Portage County about 2 p.m. -- killing four men.

Litsinger's 20-year-old son, Mark, who was working nearby, said the debris seemed to fall from about 500 feet in the air.

They rushed to the crash sites.

``I don't think I've ever seen anything that ugly,'' Don Litsinger said.

The father and son were among the witnesses to the deadly crash near Tallmadge and Industry roads.

Investigators identified the victims as John P. Plavcan, 55, of Newbury, and Mark P. Schaden, 36, of Middlefield, flying in a Lancair 235, and Christopher J. Erdovegi, 19, of Lakewood, and Alan L. Lyons, 38, of Shreve, flying in a Cessna 121 L.

Officials said the Federal Aviation Administration closed the airspace over the crash site in a five-mile radius at 2,500 feet.

The Lancair is registered to Plavcan, according to records.

The Cessna is registered to Hobart Aviation of Brunswick. The plane is listed as part of the rental fleet at American Winds Flight Academy located at Akron Fulton International Airport, according to the school's Web site.

Lauren Peduzzi, spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said an investigator from the board's Chicago office would go to the accident site to investigate.

Meanwhile, State Highway Patrol officials said their crash reconstructionists also would be involved.

Patrol Capt. Jim Holt said it was still unknown where the planes took off, where they were going or what they were doing at the time they collided.

Apparently, they did no damage to anything on the ground, nor did anyone on the ground suffer any injuries.

The wreckage was spread over a mile-and-a-half of open, rolling fields in Portage County.

The planes appeared to have just missed clipping several high-tension lines.

The Cessna's fuselage sat wingless and tailless in a field next to a small apiary -- a place where beehives are kept.

It looked like an upside-down bathtub with a broken, two-pronged propeller sticking out of the ground.

There were no obvious signs that the plane skidded to a stop.

The Lancair also appeared to be upside down about a mile east of the other plane on the side of a road leading into a new housing development.

Erdovegi's father, John, said his son was studying aeronautical engineering at Kent State University. The sophomore also was taking flying lessons through a flight academy in Akron.

His flight instructor was training him to fly with instruments Friday, John Erdovegi said.

``I don't understand, the weather was perfect,'' he said.

Erdovegi started flying after graduating from St. Edward High School in 2004, his father said. He had logged about 80 hours.

His son, who would have turned 20 in two weeks, became interested in flying while attending the Cleveland National Air Show as he was growing up, he said.

``He was a one-of-a-kind kid,'' Erdovegi said about his only child, adding later, ``I won't have any grandchildren.''

The Plavcan family declined comment. A message was left at the home of Schaden's parents.

Dr. Roger Marcial, the Portage County coroner, said the bodies would be sent to Cleveland and Akron for autopsies.