Newsday

3 Die in Fla. Lear Jet Crash

MARIANNA, Fla. (AP) -- A Lear jet crashed on its approach to a small airport Wednesday in the Florida Panhandle, killing the three men aboard, authorities said.

The twin-engine, 10-passenger aircraft burned after it crashed on an access road on the property of a federal prison about three miles north of Marianna, Police Chief B.L. Palmer said.

The aircraft was owned by Dickerson Associates at Bankair Inc., of West Columbia, S.C.

A woman answering the phone at Bankair said no one was available at their office who could talk about the crash.

Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials were on their way to Marianna to help with the crash investigation.

Marianna is about 60 miles west of Tallahassee.

The victims were identified as William L. Wilson, 38, of Ormond Beach; Timothy Hannon, 20, of Reistertown, Md., and Matthew Alan Spangler, 31, of Cottage Grove, Minn. All three were licensed pilots, and it was unknown who was piloting the jet when it crashed.

AP-NY-04-05-00 2029EDT< 

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), April 05, 2000