Oct 7, 2000 - 11:23 AM

Small Plane Crashes on Martha's Vineyard

The Associated Press

EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) - A small aircraft crashed in a dense forest a mile short of the runway at Martha's Vineyard Airport, killing four people.

Police said air traffic controllers lost contact with the 1977 Mitsubishi twin engine turboprop on its final approach late Friday, about two miles away from the airport.

Rescue crews reported smelling smoke coming from the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest. They found the plane engulfed in flames and discovered four bodies. The names of the victims were not immediately released.

The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the cause of the crash. The weather was described as overcast when the plane went down.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAYYRYF1EC.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), October 07, 2000

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Saturday October 7 4:25 PM ET Small Plane Crash Claims Bank Chairman, His Family

EDGARTOWN, Mass. (Reuters) - A small plane crashed in the woods near Martha's Vineyard Airport on Friday, killing the chairman of a small New Jersey bank, his wife and their two children, police said.

Charles B. Yates, 61, chairman of FMS Financial Corp. (NasdaqNM:FMCO - news) in Burlington, New Jersey, was killed in the crash along with his wife, Anya, and their two young children, authorities said. The family, which lived in Princeton, New Jersey, had been headed to the island of Martha's Vineyard to stay at their house in Edgartown.

The Edgartown, Massachusetts, police said at about 10:05 p.m. on Friday the airport tower lost contact with a twin-engine Mitsubishi turbo-prop plane piloted by Yates on its final approach.

Emergency personnel responded and smelled smoke in the area of Manuel F. Correllus State Forest, about two miles from the airport.

``Upon arrival, emergency units found the plane fully engulfed in flames,'' police said in a statement.

Edgartown police identified the pilot Yates, his 34-year-old wife, and their children Elena, 8, and William, 2, as the victims in the crash. The family's dog also was killed. Federal investigators were expected on the scene Saturday.

FMS Financial is a bank holding company for Farmers and Mechanics Bank, which operates several branches throughout Burlington County, New Jersey.

Charles Yates controlled about 13 percent of FMS Financial's common stock, according to company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites) earlier this year. His younger brother, Craig Yates, is the chief executive of the bank holding company, SEC documents show.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), October 07, 2000.