Business executives from A.C. among 8 killed in Minn. plane crash

Executives of Revel Entertainment and Tishman Construction, in the midst of building a massive, $2.5 billion casino in Atlantic City, were among eight people killed today in the crash of a business jet preparing to land in Minnesota.

The executives, including a Tishman project manager Karen Sandland, 44, of Galloway, N.J., and two pilots from Pennsylvania, had left Atlantic City International Airport at 8:13 a.m. on a Hawker 800 chartered by Revel through East Coast Jets, an Allentown company.

The plane crashed off runway 30 at the Degner Regional Airport at about 10 a.m. local time, on its approach to the airport during a storm with wind gusts of 70 miles per hour. The wreckage ended up strewn across a cornfield.

The executives were on their way to Viracon, a glass manufacturer in Owatonna, Minnesota, to examine possible exteriors for the new casino, which is rising up under 8 massive cranes along the boardwalk at the north end of town, company officials said. The glass company was recently awarded the contract for the new World Trace Center building.

Word of the tragedy spread quickly at the busy construction site, and at Revel's nearby offices on Atlantic Avenue, where ashen-faced employees of Revel and Tishman, and local attorneys associated with the companies, walked in and out of the building, visibly shaken. Several Tishman employees stood outside, their heads in their hands. They referred inquiries to company spokespeople.

East Coast Jets president Brad Cole said two pilots, Clark Keefer, of Bethlehem, and Dan D'Ambrosio, of Hellertown, Pa., were among those killed.

Atlantic City Mayor Scott Evans confirmed that high-ranking executives of both Revel and Tishman, hired as the general contractor for the casino product, were on board the jet.

"It's a tragedy," Mayor Evans said. "Our hearts go out to them."

Revel CEO Kevin DeSanctis, a well-liked, longtime executive on the Atlantic City casino scene, was not on board. He was in his office this afternoon making phone calls and was not available for immediate comment.

Daniel R. Tishman, Chairman & CEO of Tishman Construction Corporation, issued this statement this evening: "All of us in the Tishman Construction family extend our deepest thoughts, prayers and sympathies to the families of the victims of today's plane accident, which include Karen Sandland, a Project Manager on the Revel Hotel & Casino project in Atlantic City, and several of our long-time colleagues and friends. Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by this tragedy."

Neighbors around Sandland's two-story town house, with its well-kept flower bed of impatiens and hostas, said they would see her drive up in a black Mercedes convertible she had recently gotten. She appeared to live alone.

"I'm just so distraught," said Catherine Kleissler, a neighbor. "I regret I didn't take the time to introduce myself. She looked like a nice businesswoman. She seemed like a very peaceful, happy woman."

In all, seven passengers died in the crash and another at a local hospital, while one person may be unaccounted for, according to the Associated Press, which cited Sheriff Gary Ringhofer in Minnesota.

South Jersey Transportation Authority spokeswoman Sharon Gordon said the plane had stopped only briefly in Atlantic City and did not refuel or request any other services.

"It was a quick turnaround," Gordon said. "We believe it did pick up passengers in Atlantic City."

The jet took off from the MidAtlantic terminal at the small airport, which handles a busy private airplane service. Employees there this afternoon said several of the passengers on the plane drove themselves to the airport and left their cars parked nearby.

The charter jet, flying from from Atlantic City, N.J., to Owatonna, a town of 25,000, went down in a cornfield northwest of Degner Regional Airport, scattering debris, Ringhofer said.

Cameron Smith, a mechanic at the airport, told the Associated Press he spoke by radio with the jet's pilot just minutes before the crash. The pilot was about to land and was asking where he should park for fuel, Smith said.

He ran to the crash scene to see if anyone could be helped, but saw only a long skid path and debris that he described as "shredded." "I was amazed to hear that someone survived," he said. "There was no fuselage. There were just parts."

Quinn Johnson, an assistant manager at a restaurant about three miles from the airport, didn't see the crash, but heard it. She initially thought it was a tornado.

"It lasted, I'm guessing, probably 15, 20 seconds, maybe slightly longer than that. It was a really, really loud, kind of a rumbling, screechy type noise," Johnson said.

The crash happened as severe weather battered parts of southern Minnesota. An hour before the accident, a 72 m.p.h. wind gust was reported in Owatonna, according to the National Weather Service.

Both Smith and Johnson said the crash happened after the worst of the storm had passed, with the sky clearing and only light rain.

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