Plane that crashed in southeast Indiana stopped for fuel in Columbus; victims identified

COLUMBUS, Ind. — An airplane that crashed in Franklin County and killed three people stopped for fuel twice at Columbus Municipal Airport, officials said.

A single-engine Cessna that left Kansas City, Missouri, was headed to an airport in Frederick, Maryland, when the crash occurred at 9:10 p.m. Saturday in a wooded area in Oldenburg in southeastern Indiana, said Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, Indiana State Police spokesman. Emergency responders were notified that an aircraft had crashed and that the plane possibly caught fire, he said.

Air traffic control at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport had reported that a plane had disappeared from radar in the area where the crash was reported, Wheeles said. Fire from the wreckage was discovered in a wooded area behind a residence, where three people and a dog were found dead, Wheeles said. A second dog survived, he said.

The three who died in the crash were identified Tuesday afternoon as Dr. Louis Cantilena, 63, of Potomac, Maryland, the pilot; Dr. Paul Schuda, 65, of Arlington, Virginia; and Dr. Amy Cantilena, 31, also of Potomac, daughter of the pilot, Wheeles said.

Columbus Municipal Airport director Brian Payne said the Cessna had stopped at the airport on Saturday to purchase fuel at 12:02 p.m. and again 8:32 p.m., about a half-hour before the crash was reported.

 

Read more in Wednesday’s print edition of The Republic.