Minnesota plane crash involves local ties

By Kelsie Hoitomt

ROCHESTER – On Sunday, December 2 Daniel Cronk and his son boarded a small plane out of Rochester and headed to Green Bay for the Packer/Vikings game.

The game time excitement was short lived after the ride home in the small, four-passenger airplane ended in a bang.

It was extremely foggy that evening and the pilot, Scott Lebovitz was flying solely by instruments due to the fact that there was no visibility.

The airplane missed the Rochester runway and crashed into a field and began to bounce and then flipped end-over-end until it came to rest upside down.

The airport’s crash alarm was sounded around 6:30 p.m. by the control tower, which began a search by the Rochester Airport Fire Department, Rochester Police Department, Rochester Fire Department and Olmsted County deputies for the downed plane.

Lebovitz used fellow passenger, Alan De Keyrel’s cell phone to place the 911 call. Emergency personnel were then able to use that call to help locate the crash site, but they had to proceed with caution due to the fog so they wouldn’t run into the plane.

The passengers were OK, but were still taken to Saint Mary’s Hospital to be examined and have their bumps and bruises looked at. The only reported injury was a broken toe on the young boy.