A small plane carrying passengers bound for the Peach Bowl crashed Saturday, killing five of those on board. The daughter-in-law of Louisiana State University offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger was among the victims.
»MORE: Friends, colleagues mourn sports reporter who died in Peach Bowl-bound flight
Louisiana sports reporter Carley McCord's death was confirmed by her husband, Steven Ensminger Jr., according to The Associated Press.
The elder Ensminger, who coached for the Georgia Bulldogs in the early 1990s, coached Saturday when the No. 1 Tigers played No. 4 Oklahoma at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Ian Biggs was flying the plane, which took off from Lafayette Regional Airport at 9:20 a.m. The aircraft reportedly was headed to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, according to Flightaware.com.
Besides McCord, 30, and Biggs, 51, the other victims are Robert Vaughn Crisp II, 59; Gretchen D. Vincent, 51; and Michael Walker Vincent, 15. The injured plane passenger, who is in critical condition, was identified as Stephen Wade Berzas, 37, according to the Lafayette Fire Department.
Four of the victims have ties to Global Data Systems, a Lafayette technology firm, according to The Daily Iberian.
The plane is connected to at least two companies under the control of GDS founder Chuck Vincent and Chris Vincent, his son and current president, according to Louisiana Secretary of State records.
Crisp is a vice president of business development and field services for GDS. Gretchen Vincent is Chris Vincent’s wife, and Michael is a son of the Vincents.
Berzas, who survived the crash, is the vice president of sales for GDS.
Biggs’ brother-in-law told CBS News that Biggs was transporting passengers for the Peach Bowl.
The plane crashed near Verot School Road and Feu Follet, according to radio station KPEL.
The plane reportedly crashed in a wooded area behind a Walmart Supercenter, according to the radio station.
The Lafayette Fire Department also confirmed five deaths, according to a KLFY reporter.
There reportedly were six people on the plane, according to KPEL.
One person has burns over their entire body, according to the radio station.
The twin-engine Piper Cheyenne crashed about a mile from the regional airport where the flight began, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro told the AP.
The plane reportedly skidded through a parking lot and a field. It was engulfed in flames, KPEL said.
Three people on the ground were injured by the crash and transported to local hospitals, according to KLFY-TV.
Lafayette Fire Chief Robert Benoit told KLFY-TV the aircraft was an eight-passenger plane. He said there was one survivor in addition to the five fatalities. The report said the Walmart was evacuated as a precaution.
Acadian Ambulance said via Twitter that it responded to the scene of a “crash of a small civilian airplane” in Lafayette and transported two patients to a local hospital.
Eyewitnesses told KLFY that lights went out at homes and businesses near the crash and that they heard something that sounded like “a semi-truck.” Several residents said they were without power.
Photos of the area where the plane crashed showed a blackened car as well as tree limbs scattered in the parking lot of a post office. The smoldering remains of the plane were resting in a field near the post office.
The fourth-largest city in Louisiana, Lafayette had a population of about 130,000, according to the 2018 census, and is about 135 miles west of New Orleans.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
