From staff, wire reports
A prominent Decatur, Ill., surgeon and a Tennessee woman have been tentatively identified as the two people killed in a fiery small plane crash Monday afternoon in a Madison subdivision.
Madison Police say the pair is Dr. John J. White, 52, of Decatur, Ill., and his passenger Lisa Marie Mattix, 48, of Spring Hill, Tenn., according to wire reports.
Limestone County Coroner Mike West said late Monday afternoon he had sent the two bodies to the state forensic lab for positive identification through dental records.
West said both bodies found in the wreckage strapped in their seats were, “burned beyond recognition.”
The News Courier learned from FAA.gov the plane was registered to White, who was the past president of the medical staff at St. Mary's Hospital in Decatur, Ill., and a member of the hospital's board of directors. He had served the hospital for about 20 years.
“Dr. White served the community as a very competent and compassionate healer,” News Courier news partner WAFF 48 News quoted from a written statement by Kevin F. Kast, president and CEO of St. Mary's Hospital. “He had a great sense of humor, a spirit of generosity, and always responded to those in medical need, looking to provide aid and relieve suffering."
The NTSB and FAA were back at the crash site Tuesday morning.
The Beechcraft Duke twin-engine BE60/G plane in route to Huntsville International Airport went down off of County Line Road in the Ashbury subdivisions Monday afternoon.
“I saw the plane coming out of the sky and thought it was going to hit the street in front of me,” witness Johanna Roller said. “It was gliding in, then a wing hit a tree, it spun and nosedived and hit the ground.”
Madison Police and Fire-Rescue as well as Hazmat crews responded to the crash site.
According to FlightAware.com, the plane came from Boca Raton, Fla., Monday morning to Huntsville. Then it was traveling from Huntsville to Nashville, Tenn., when it turned around shortly after crossing the Alabama state line after reporting engine trouble.
White was reported to have had his pilot’s license to fly for Angel Flight, a non-profit organization where individual pilots donate their time and money to fly people with medical needs.
Reports say investigators have not learned the purpose of Monday’s flight.
