Eight Dead in Charter Plane Crash in Minnesota

Eight people perished when a small charter jet crashed on landing Thursday in stormy, windy weather in Minnesota.

The passengers were business travelers on their way to meet with a glass company that won a contract at the new World Trade Center site. Initially, there was one survivor, but that person died at the hospital.

There were initial reports of one or more additional passengers unaccounted for, but a Department of Public Safety spokesman said Thursday night that eight people had been confirmed on board.

The airport said the plane, en route to Owatonna, Minn., from Atlantic City, N.J., crashed at the end of the runway after landing in severe thunderstorms, according to MyFOX Twin Cities.

The accident happened at Owatonna Degner Regional Airport, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.

The charter jet went down in a cornfield northwest of the airport, scattering debris along a gravel road, Sheriff Gary Ringhofer said. The wreckage was not visible to reporters because tall corn obscured the crash site.

The plane had been scheduled to land at 9:42 a.m., then take off at 11:40 a.m. for Crossville, Tenn.

The Owatonna People's Press reported the plane was carrying customers to Viracon Inc., an Owatonna-based glass company that earlier this year was awarded a contract to supply glass to the World Trade Center site.

Viracon President Don Pyatt told the newspaper that the customers were from a couple of different companies and planned to visit the plant to discuss a project in Las Vegas.

Owatonna is a town of about 25,000 about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities.

The crash came as a line of storm thunderstorms moved across southern Minnesota, knocking out power lines, snapping trees and damaging agricultural buildings.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.