2 Killed as Jet Crashes in Indiana Town

A private jet apparently experiencing mechanical trouble crashed into an Indiana neighborhood yesterday, hitting three homes and killing two people aboard the plane, authorities said. The crash injured two other people aboard the Beechcraft Premier I twin-jet and one person on the ground, a fire official said. The jet had left Riverside Airport in Tulsa, Okla., and crashed late yesterday afternoon near South Bend Regional Airport, an FAA rep said. Three people injured in the crash were hospitalized, a hospital rep said; one was in serious condition and two were in fair condition.

A neighbor said the jet clipped the top of one house, heavily damaged a second, and finally came to rest against a third. The plane was registered to a Montana-based company owned by Wes Caves; a woman identifying herself as Caves' wife said she believed he was dead. An official said firefighters still want to search a heavily damaged home. "I believe they said they're going to have to tear down a portion of the house to make it stable," he said, adding that jet fuel inside another house posed a hazard. (More Indiana stories.)