Burghill man and passenger die in small plane crash northeast of Andover

Staff report

CONNEAUT, Pa.

A Trumbull County man was piloting the small aircraft that crashed Monday night in Crawford County, killing the pilot and his passenger.

The pilot was Timothy C. Williams, 59, of Burghill in Vernon Township, and his passenger was Nathan R. Koontz, 33, of Linesville, Pa.

Scott T. Schell, Crawford County coroner, said autopsies will be conducted this morning on both bodies.

The crash occurred just north of the Pymatuning Reservoir a short distance over the state line and northeast of Andover in Ashtabula County.

Pennsylvania State Police said the plane went off radar from the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport at 6:22 p.m. Monday, according to The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21 WFMJ-TV.

At 6:38 p.m., residents living near the corner of Airport and Wheeler Roads in Conneaut Township reported to officials seeing a low-flying aircraft.

They estimate to police that 30 seconds later they heard an explosion.

Thick fog made it difficult for search crews to locate the fallen plane.

Two volunteer searchers on all-terrain vehicles eventually discovered the aircraft just before 10 p.m. in a heavily wooded area about a quarter-mile from Airport Road.