On Saturday morning, residents in Brooklyn Park were startled when an airplane crashed into a park.
A Beechcraft single-engine plane was seen crashing into the ground and then bursting into flames in seconds.
Daren Wichman knew something was very wrong when he heard what he thought was a plane in distress.
“Such a fire that there’s no way you’re going to save anybody,” recalled Wichman, who lives nearby.
Wichman says he heard what sounded like the aircraft’s engine cutting in and out — and ran over to Southbrook Park to find the downed plane in flames.
“So, heard a crunching noise, came around the house, looked up and saw a big orange ball, and then a big mushroom black cloud,” he explains.
The FAA says the plane, a Beechcraft F33A, went down around 11:51 Saturday morning.
Family members confirm that North Dakota State Representative Liz Conmy and her partner, Dr. Joseph Cass, a retired Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon, who was piloting the plane, were killed.
Conmy, a mother of four, with ties to Minnesota State University and the University of St. Thomas, was known for her dedication to environmental and education issues.
A neighbor named Steve, who did not want his last name made public, says the crash was devastating.
“I felt the whole house shake and kind of like an impact noise,” he recalled. “I rushed over while I was calling 911, and I saw the plane engulfed, could barely make out the tailfin.”
“We’re all just devastated,” Representative Zac Ista, D-Grand Forks, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. “Liz Conmy was such a warm spirit. She had this joy around her that was infectious.”
From Conmy’s colleagues in the North Dakota legislature, there’s been a mixture of disbelief and sadness about two lives cut short.
“It was shocking, I couldn’t believe it,” said Representative Austin Foss, D-Fargo. “We got the call from our minority leader, and truthfully, I didn’t have words.”
“So, we’re kind of shocked that there was this accident, and trying to figure out how to accommodate the grief of losing a friend,” noted Senator Tim Mathern, D-Fargo.
Friends say the couple had a passion for flying and traveled together all over the country — including in Minnesota, where Cass had a lake house.
Conmy’s political colleagues say she was preparing to run for a second term in the North Dakota House of Representatives.
Her passions were environmental and educational issues.
“Liz was always just a bright smile in the room,” recalled Jarrod Schoenecker, who was a student of Conmy, taking public relations courses with her in 2005 and 2006.
“I mean, if you had a terrible day, she was a great breath of fresh air,” he says. “I guess you could say she never came in with any negativity. Always very vibrant, bubbly, happy, willing to help.”
The wreckage from the crash was moved Sunday afternoon, as the FAA and the NTSB launch their investigation. An NTSB spokesperson says an investigator was at the scene Sunday to document the site and examine the plane.
Authorities say the aircraft had taken off from Crystal Airport just moments before.
The agency says the Beechcraft is being transported to a secure facility for further evaluation.
A preliminary report is expected in about thirty days.
Meanwhile, those who know Conmy and Cass say the loss is devastating.
“She was a light, she was a shining light,” Foss says. “She was a ball of energy; she was just really fun; and yeah, she had a passion about her work, and she had a passion for people.”
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