UPDATE: Two Dead In South Bend Plane Crash
Members of the Warsaw/Wayne Fire Territory were called to South Bend Sunday afternoon to assist with evacuation efforts following a plane crash in a residential neighborhood.
Around 4:30 p.m. a private jet crashed into a residential area of the city and hit three homes. Two people died in the crash, including a former well-known Oklahoma University football player. Steve Davis, 60, was killed in the crash, along with Wesley Caves, 58, of Tulsa, Okla.
According to WSBT, Davis played quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners from 1972 to 1976 and was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player of the 1976 Orange Bowl when the Sooners won their 5th national championship.
In press conferences late Sunday, authorities said four people were on the plane. The others, Jim Rodgers, was taken to South Bend Memorial Hospital in serious condition; and Christopher Evans was last listed in fair condition. Also hurt was Diane McKeown, who was in one of the homes hit by the jet. She is in fair condition.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are at the scene but say it could take a week to 10 days before a preliminary report as to the cause of the crash is released.
Around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the small jet was coming from Tulsa, Okla. It was cleared to land at South Bend Regional Airport and actually touched down, but authorities said it began to ascend again before crashing into the three nearby homes.
The crash also caused a gas leak so the entire neighborhood was evacuated. What role Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory officials played in the emergency is not yet known. The firefighters were not available for comment yet today.