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Education

Tragedy: Three Fraternity Brothers Die After Small Plane Crashes into Pickup Truck

Nov. 17, 2012 9:32pm Erica Ritz

(TheBlaze/AP) — A small plane that spiraled downward and burst into flames after striking a pickup truck shortly before takeoff was carrying two University of Maine students and one alumnus, all of whom died in the crash, the school said Saturday.

The school and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity said the victims of Friday night’s crash were 22-year-old David Cheney, of Beverly, Mass.; 24-year-old Marcelo Rugini, an exchange student from Brazil; and 24-year-old William “B.J.” Hannigan III, of South Portland.

All three were members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Cheney was the fraternity’s president.

“UMaine’s Greek and international student communities are mourning the loss of three of their own, but they are not alone in their grief,” said Robert Dana, vice president for student affairs and dean of students. “Losing these three young men – David, Marcelo and B.J. – is a loss for the entire UMaine community and the many people – including faculty and staff – whose lives they touched. They brought great light and energy to our campus, and we will miss them.”

The Cessna 172 was heading north on the Knox County Regional Airport runway early Friday night when it struck the truck, which was authorized to be on airport grounds, Knox County Chief Deputy Sheriff Tim Carroll said. The plane continued to climb and as it turned to the east, it dived about 200 to 300 yards into the thick woods and immediately burst into flames, the sheriff’s office said.

The university said DNA tests to confirm the identities aren’t expected until Wednesday.

One fraternity brother, senior Lucas Bernardi, told the Bangor Daily News that the three had flown out of Bangor International Airport earlier in the day and then toward Lincoln County over a farm where one of the victims had worked over the summer. He said one of the victims had just gotten his pilot’s license and wanted to take his friends for a fun ride.

“It wasn’t the first time they had been flying,” Bernardi told the newspaper. “I was supposed to go with them, but I didn’t.”

Hannigan, who graduated from the university in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, was piloting the plane and had been working on his flight hours, Dana said.

Cheney was a business major. Rugini, who lived in Nobleboro and was from Muliterno, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, was an economics major.

Lambda Chi Alpha has been in touch with the victims’ families and has been keeping the university informed, Dana said.

Fraternity members gathered in solidarity at their campus house Saturday night, and a police officer was stationed outside to keep away the media, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The pickup truck that was struck by the plane was allowed to be at the airport and was driven by a pilot who was picking up another pilot who had parked a plane in a hangar, Carroll said. The truck driver wasn’t hurt.

NECN has more:

All trucks at the airport are equipped with radios to pick up any traffic from planes, airport manager Jeff Northgraves said. He said planes are required to radio their positions before, during and after takeoff. He said it wasn’t known yet whether the plane that crashed had radioed its actions.

The collision sent flames 10 to 20 feet in the air and smoke billowing into the sky. The first people to the scene tried unsuccessfully to pull one of the occupants from the burning wreckage, said John Newcomb, president of the Downeast Air airline services company, who was among those who tried to help.

The area is so rough that a helicopter will be needed to remove the four-seat plane, the same way the bodies were removed, Northgraves said.

Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to begin investigating the crash Saturday.

This post will be updated.

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Comments (18)

Proverbs17-12NLT
Posted on November 18, 2012 at 8:48am
GM’s Alive but these 3 are Dead.

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bordo
Posted on November 18, 2012 at 7:34am
After reading about this tragedy I can only conclude that the driver of the truck preformed a runway incursion while the C-172 was on takeoff roll. The truck driver, regardless of any airport authorization, is clearly at fault for failing to yield the right of way and negligently caused the death of the airplane occupants. As a pilot at the field, the driver should have been aware of runway incursion procedures. I keep my plane in a small fly-in community and at no time are we permitted to cross the runway in a vehicle. This was an unfortunate, yet completely avoidable event.

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- DadRocked
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 8:36am
  BORDO – “This was an unfortunate, yet completely avoidable event.” I agree
  I’ve just looked at the Sat View on Mapquest… Small regional, 7 on the pad – access road running at about 70º angle looking down at N/S flightline – Avoidable. RIP
  
  Report this comment
JACKTHETOAD
Posted on November 18, 2012 at 4:42am
Another plane/ car tragedy. What the hell is going on already? God Bless those kids and their families.
(I think I’m gonna buy a boat… with them, so far so good.)

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RaydocX
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 11:38pm
horrible… prayers to the family, and to the driver of the truck… even if he’s exhonerated by the facts, he will carry a personal memory of what happened.

sad that something so amazing… small plane flight… remains so dangerous that more people don’t enjoy it; things like this never help, although the three could have been killed driving on the highway or sitting in class.

how far down the list from firearms do you suppose aircraft are, if the Left are to control us, they cannot very well have us able to fly ourselves here and there…

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DadRocked
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 11:14pm
Disgusted_in_CT
Copy/Paste your posting into the Report Post box.
No wonder 3 that I know of just today.

Same type of message about a week ago… I reported post (probably not alone), and hadn’t seen it since. Now today 3.

Thanks

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Disgusted_in_CT
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 10:58pm
Interesting, this person is from a different time zone.

Member Since: November 18, 2012

Yep, A member since the 18th, It is only the 17th here.

gotta love a spammer, NOT

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DadRocked
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 10:42pm
Muzzle – This is the 3rd one today…
It’s been, ‘my friend’s stepmom’, ‘my friends mom’ and now ‘my roommate’s stepmother’…
I have reported this on a different page.
I clicked Report Post on this one too but it tells me, “You have already reported this comment”
Please click Report Post and let’s get rid of these goofs.

I ask each of you that find this spam to click the Report Post button.
Thanks, DadRocked

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muzzleloader
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 10:21pm
take your cap elsewhere
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- infidelsaplenty
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 8:11am
  ‘Good idea, muzzleloader. I put my “cap” on my head – and I didn’t put it on backwards.
  
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bigbear_awake
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 10:16pm
before take-off?

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- DadRocked
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 10:50pm
  The 172 was either taxing to the flighline or on the flightline when it the hit each other.
  Sounds like on the flightline… truck had to be on a feeder ramp, crossed the flightline as the bird was taking off. Hits the truck, bird goes up 200ft-300ft couldn’t recover, then dropped.
  Often a Cessna 150 is used for student flight schools then next step up would be the 172.
  
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- RamonPreston
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 12:24am
  Only drunk college students could crash a plane before take off. Sober ones do it after take off.
  
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- Dustoff
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 11:10am
  Something doesn’t fit. It says he just got his lic. Was he training in 150 before he flew this 172. Or did he train in a 172?
  Plus a plane with 3 or 4 people on board handle differently than just two. Has he ever flow with more than two before.
  
  Lots of questions, so few answers.
  
  Report this comment
- Helen Hyde
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 8:24pm
  Sounds like they were just getting airborne when they collided. Obviously the plane had enough speed to fly but must have either been damaged to where it was not controllable, or the pilot perhaps was injured in the collision.
  As far as the difference between a 150 and 172, it is not much. The 172 is a bit bigger and heavier, but the flying characteristics are not much different. To equate to a cars. Might be like the difference between a honda civic, and a Crosstour. It is not a huge step up.
  I doubt many of them fly very well after they hit a truck.
  Its too bad. Planes have the right of way at the airport, it is up to anybody in a car/truck to stay out of the way.
  
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rickc34
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 9:49pm
As a parent my thoughts and prayers go out to the parents and family members. May the Lord give you comfort and peace at this time of mourning and loss. I am truly sorry.

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jman-6
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 9:40pm
May GOD be with their families and hoping all were saved believers!

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- RamonPreston
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 12:26am
  They are saved now. He that endures to the end shall be saved. Mat 24:13
  
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