Culver, Ind. – A northern Indiana private school has grounded all its aircraft while an investigation continues into what caused one of its planes to crash into a lake killing an aviation camp student and his instructor from Colorado, a school spokesman said.
The single-engine Piper Warrior crashed into Lake Maxinkuckee near Culver Academies Wednesday afternoon.
Killed were flight instructor Brent Bauman, 21, of Niwot, Colo., who was attending Purdue University, and his student Peter Mueller, 14, of Tampa, Fla.
The plane sunk into about 6 feet of water, trapping both people near the school in Culver, 35 miles southeast of South Bend, police said.
Mitchell Gallo, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said a preliminary report on the crash will be released within the next few days. That report simply serves as notification of the accident, he said.
A factual report will likely be issued in about a year, and a final report, detailing the cause of the crash, released after that, he said.
Police have said it is unclear who was flying the plane.
Divers with the Culver Fire Department and Indiana State Police were able to pull the bodies out of the plane, and both victims were pronounced dead a shot time later at a hospital.
“It’s a real tragedy, obviously, and our hearts go out to the families,” said Tony Mayfield, camp director. “And of course, we’re working with the victims’ families as well as all of our campers and their families to try to continue the program and make it the greatest it can be under the circumstances.” Culver Academies spokesman Doug Haberland said Thursday aircraft had been temporarily grounded, but the aviation program will be continued once the investigation is completed.
The 19 campers have been given the option of continuing with ground school classes or moving to another of the nine specialty camps, he said. The two-week program for students ages 13 to 17 years old began on Monday for teens from all over the country.
