PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The head of a Michigan healthcare system and her husband are dead after their small plane crashed a short distance from an airport in the Florida Panhandle, officials said.
The single-engine Cessna 182 crashed Tuesday night in a wooded area some two miles (three kilometers) from Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Panama City, Florida, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office identified the occupants as MyMichigan Health President and CEO Diane Postler-Slattery and her husband, Donald Slattery. Sheriff’s officials said the plane was approaching the airport around 7 p.m. when it disappeared from the radar. Multiple agencies were involved in the search for the aircraft, which was eventually found using drones in a densely wooded area.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator was traveling to the scene to examine the aircraft, the agency said Wednesday.
As part of the investigation, NTSB will request radar data, weather information, air traffic control communication, maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records, the agency said.
A preliminary report, which includes the factual information gathered, should be published in about 15 days.
Investigations involving fatalities typically take between 12 and 24 months, the agency said.
