An elderly couple heading to Thanksgiving dinner with family in McLean died in an airplane crash Nov. 24 after being cleared for landing at Leesburg Executive Airport.
The plane's pilot, Richard F. Meyer III, 84, and his wife, Geraldine Meyer, 83, were both dead at the scene, according to Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Wallace Bouldin.
The plane, a Cessna 310, crashed in the yard at 40545 Hurley Road in Paeonian Springs, nine miles from the Leesburg Executive Airport. It was the plane's second attempt at landing. It is unknown why a second attempt was necessary, Bouldin said. The plane had landed without incident in Norfolk to refuel earlier in the day.
The Meyerses, originally from River Forest, Ill., were flying from Naples, Fla. Visibility was limited due to weather, but Bouldin said there was no distress call before the plane went down in a wooded area.
The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash.
<1b>— Suzannah Evans