Family and friends in a small Illinois town are mourning the lack of two grandparents who perished in a plane crash while traveling for Thanksgiving.
Joseph and Patty Kreher, of Freeburg, Illinois, died Saturday when their small, twin-engine Piper PA-30 aircraft crashed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at around 11:15 a.m. The couple had taken off from the St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia, made a stop in London, Kentucky, after which crashed near an airport in Winston-Salem, KSDK-TV reported.
Authorities with the National Safety Transportation Board are investigating the reason behind the crash. Air Safety Investigator Pete Wentz told the local news station the pilot had communicated to the airport radio tower that there was an issue before the plane went down.
“The pilot communicated saying he needed to circle the airport for a second attempt and throughout the circling maneuver, the airplane lost control and impacted the bottom,” Wetnz said.
While the investigation is ongoing, the town of Freeburg is mourning the lack of their neighbors.
“It’s just going to be hard for everybody that knew Joe and Patty,” Freeburg Mayor Seth Speiser told KSDK.
The couple was well-known and liked among the many town of 4,500.
“I knew Joe and Patty, they’d a machine shop off of 159, very well-liked people in the world,” Speiser said.
The Krehers owned a machine shop business called General Machine, which provided heavy equipment repair and other machining must the Metro East and Southern Illinois region, in addition to the Greater St. Louis area.
“That they had an unbelievable business on the market,” Speiser told KSDK, “I feel sorry for all of the families that work there too. Since it was a mom-and-pop shop and now mom and pop aren’t any longer there.”
A member of the family that spoke to FOX8 in Winston-Salem said the Krehers were flying into town from St. Louis to go to their son and grandchildren for Thanksgiving
The member of the family said the couple had made the trip from St. Louis to North Carlina several times before without incident.
Joseph Kreher is listed as a flight instructor with the National Association of Flight Instructors.
Family and friends in a small Illinois town are mourning the lack of two grandparents who perished in a plane crash while traveling for Thanksgiving.
Joseph and Patty Kreher, of Freeburg, Illinois, died Saturday when their small, twin-engine Piper PA-30 aircraft crashed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at around 11:15 a.m. The couple had taken off from the St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia, made a stop in London, Kentucky, after which crashed near an airport in Winston-Salem, KSDK-TV reported.
Authorities with the National Safety Transportation Board are investigating the reason behind the crash. Air Safety Investigator Pete Wentz told the local news station the pilot had communicated to the airport radio tower that there was an issue before the plane went down.
“The pilot communicated saying he needed to circle the airport for a second attempt and throughout the circling maneuver, the airplane lost control and impacted the bottom,” Wetnz said.
While the investigation is ongoing, the town of Freeburg is mourning the lack of their neighbors.
“It’s just going to be hard for everybody that knew Joe and Patty,” Freeburg Mayor Seth Speiser told KSDK.
The couple was well-known and liked among the many town of 4,500.
“I knew Joe and Patty, they’d a machine shop off of 159, very well-liked people in the world,” Speiser said.
The Krehers owned a machine shop business called General Machine, which provided heavy equipment repair and other machining must the Metro East and Southern Illinois region, in addition to the Greater St. Louis area.
“That they had an unbelievable business on the market,” Speiser told KSDK, “I feel sorry for all of the families that work there too. Since it was a mom-and-pop shop and now mom and pop aren’t any longer there.”
A member of the family that spoke to FOX8 in Winston-Salem said the Krehers were flying into town from St. Louis to go to their son and grandchildren for Thanksgiving
The member of the family said the couple had made the trip from St. Louis to North Carlina several times before without incident.
Joseph Kreher is listed as a flight instructor with the National Association of Flight Instructors.
