4 dead when small plane crashes near Michigan airport

DEWITT TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Four people died and two others were injured Thursday morning when a small plane crashed near Michigan's Capital Region International Airport.

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Authorities responded around 9 a.m. after a Socata TBM 700 crashed just west of the Lansing-area airport, officials said. The plane was carrying six people -- four passengers, a pilot and a co-pilot -- when it went down, Clinton County Sheriff Larry Jerue said.

Update 2 pm EDT Oct. 7: WLNS reported a fourth person has died from Thursday's crash.

The Clinton County Sheriff's Office told the station 27-year-old Zechariah Eugene Bennett of Plainfield, Indiana, died Saturday of his injuries.

Three other victims who were previously reported dead in the crash are Neil Alan Sego, 46, of Trafalgar, Indiana; John Thomas Lowe, 51, of Greenwood, Indiana; and Timothy Joe Clark, 67, of Franklin, Indiana.

Two others remain hospitalized in Lansing, Michigan.

Original story:

It was not immediately clear whether the three people who died in the crash were passengers or crew members on the plane. Jerue declined to identify the victims, citing the need to notify their next of kin. He said three other people on the plane were taken to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing with critical injuries after the crash.

In a statement obtained by WRTV-TV, officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said the single-engine small plane crashed while approaching a runway at Capital Region International Airport. The plane had taken off from Indy South Greenwood Airport around 8 a.m., according to WRTV-TV.

Eric Patrick, Capital Region International Airport's public safety and operations chief, said the airport received an emergency alert from the plane, though it was not immediately clear whether the alert was sent before or after the crash.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating.

Cox Media Group