A small plane carrying two families to a college lacrosse game crashed Saturday, killing all six people aboard, authorities said.
The two families had been on vacation in Florida and were going to Penn State University to watch pilot Jeffrey Jacober’s son play in lacrosse game, according to a family friend.
Witnesses said the single-engine plane sputtered and hit the ground nose-first near a construction site, less than 10 miles from the airport in State College, said Tim Boyde, a Centre County official who was at the scene.
Officials believe icing may have contributed to the crash, Boyde said. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to investigate.
The pilot was attempting an instrument landing approach when the plane went down, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Les Dorr said.
The dead were identified as Jacober, 51, of Providence; his wife, Karen, 49; their son Eric, 15; Gregg Weingeroff, 49; his wife, Dawn; and their 10-year-old son Leland, said Carl Freedman, an attorney for both men.
Weingeroff operated Weingeroff Enterprises, a Cranston, R.I.-based jewelry business with 140 employees.
Jacober was president of Ocean Group Inc., a medical supply wholesaler, and operated Medport LLC, a manufacturer of health care products doing business as Vita Minder.