A small, single-engine plane that crashed into a vacant two-storey office building in a Milan suburb, killing all eight people aboard, was being piloted by Romanian billionaire Dan Petrescu, local media have reported. Investigators opened a probe into what caused the private plane to crash on Sunday local time shortly after takeoff from Milano-Linate Airport (LIN/LIML) en route to Olbia-Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB/LIEO) on the Italian island of Sardinia. The aircraft took off from runway 36 at Linate Airport at 13:04 local time. It made a climbing right hand turn after departure and stopped the climb at an altitude of about 5,300 feet. At 13:07 the aircraft entered a steep and fast descent until it impacted a building under construction.
A thick column of dark smoke rose from the crash site and was visible for kilometres. Several parked cars nearby went up in flames. Firefighters tweeted that no one else but those on board were killed in the early afternoon crash near a subway station in San Donato Milanese, a small town near Milan.
Mr Petrescu, a real estate investor and one of Romania's richest men, his wife, and their adult son were among those killed. Control tower officials reported the anomaly, she said, but further details on that weren't immediately given. The prosecutor said the plane didn't send out any alarm. It was too early to cite any possible cause for the crash, Ms Siciliano said, adding that the flight recorder has been retrieved.
By early evening, only two of the eight dead had been identified, since they carried documents on them, Ms Siciliano said.
Those aboard were "all foreigners," she said, including the pilot, who was Romanian. The aircraft was registered in Romania, she added. The reports said the aircraft had flown from Bucharest, Romania, to Milan on the 30th of September with no apparent problem.
Aircraft Information:
Owner/Operator: Aviroms Rent-a-Car
Aircraft: Pilatus PC-12/47E
Registration: YR-PDV
Serial Number: 1532
First Flew: April 2015
Thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends during this difficult time.
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