A small aeroplane crashed in Springfield, Illinois on Tuesday 28th of January 2020, killing 3 people and a dog.

While investigators would not release the names of the victims, multiple sources with knowledge of the crash identified two victims as Frank and Cinda Edwards of Springfield. Frank Edwards was a former Springfield mayor, fire chief and alderman. His wife, Cinda Edwards, was Sangamon County coroner. The identity of the third victim was not immediately confirmedPublic safety officials confirmed that the plane, a twin-engine Piper Aerostar, went down shortly after 3 p.m. in a field near White Timber Road, which is in unincorporated Sangamon County between Springfield and Rochester. The plane was heading inbound toward Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration was at the crash site Tuesday evening along with the coroner’s office. The National Transportation Safety Board also was expected to arrive within the next 12-18 hours to investigate.

Frank Edwards, 69, served on the Springfield Fire Department for 25 years before he retired in 2002, having served his final 19 months as chief. He was Ward 1 alderman on the Springfield City Council from 2003 to 2015 — except for the few months he served as mayor after the December 2010 death of Mayor Tim Davlin. He also ran for mayor last spring, losing a bid to unseat Mayor Jim Langfelder.

Cinda Edwards, 63, was a nurse and Lincoln Land Community College trustee when she was appointed county coroner in 2011. She had been a nurse with administrative responsibilities at Priority Care Clinics and had earlier spent eight years working in the emergency room at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield.

The plane crashed within 75 feet of a residence, said Sangamon County Sheriff Jack news conference Tuesday evening at Grace bible Chapel near Rochester.

Rochester police and fire departments were first to respond, Campbell said. The Sangamon County Rescue Squad, Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport Police and the Springfield Police Department also assisted.


Campbell said that the FAA air traffic control tower reported to sheriff’s deputies that the pilot communicated that he was having problems with “weather and instruments.” The NTSB will conduct a full crash investigation, he said..