Plane Crashes in Pine River After Takeoff Killing Two

The National Transportation Safety Board or NTSB says the two-person plane crashes shortly after takeoff here near highway 1 around 6:30 Friday evening.
Cass County sheriff says 43-year-old John Witt and 32-year-old Stacy Sundquist, both from Pine River, were killed in the crash. NTSB is currently investigating the cause of the accident and they started their investigating with witness reports.
Friends of the pilot John Witt say Witt took over his father’s business Witt Aircraft Repair, which a part of the regional airport. They say he was a very knowledgeable and skilled mechanic and the plane he was flying had been in the family for decades.
NTSB says they took the crashed plane’s remains to Minneapolis to continue their investigation. And they say it will take them a while until they know for sure what cause the plane to come down.
The NTSB says there’s usually about 1,300 plane crashes every year and about 95% of those crashes are considered general crashes from small private planes like this one.