Students, families trying to cope with plane crash deaths

By DOUG JOHNSON

The Associated Press

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. --- Students at College of the Ozarks quietly returned to their books and campus jobs Friday, trying to cope with the loss of six of their own killed in a plane crash.

And in New Jersey, investigators said the pilot of a small plane that crashed and killed all four aboard was in contact with air traffic controllers moments before landing but made no distress call.

In southwestern Missouri, the college-owned Cessna Citation crashed Thursday after clipping trees near the resort town of Branson. The six people on board were returning from a day trip to St. Louis, where one had received a teaching award.

Going back to work may have been an appropriate way to pay homage to the crash victims from College of the Ozarks, a school nicknamed "Hard Work U" because the students work in exchange for tuition.

"I think the students are closer with the faculty and staff because of the work program here," said senior Jason Oliver. "And when you have a tragedy like this, it shakes everyone that much more."

The crash killed a graphic arts professor, an administrator, their spouses, the pilot and a student co-pilot, the school said.

Federal investigators Friday began scouring the crash site to find answers. Debris scattered over 100 yards on the Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area, a heavily wooded nature reserve west of Branson.

Investigators have ruled out an explosion on the plane, according to David Bowling of the National Transportation and Safety Board.

The college, founded in 1906, draws many of its 1,500 students from Midwestern farms or families who have worked overseas as missionaries.

In Hasbrouck Heights, N.J, a six-seat Beech Baron 58TC crashed between two homes in a residential neighborhood Thursday.

--- T. Rob Brown/The Associated Press

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