Small plane crashes on Purdue campus

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The National Transportation and Safety Board was trying to determine what caused a small plane to crash in a wooded area near Purdue University's golf course, killing a man and woman, officials said.\nA resident called police about 5:40 a.m. Saturday reporting that he had just heard the sound of a laboring airplane engine and a boom, said Jeanne Norberg, a Purdue spokeswoman.\nUniversity police found the single-engine Piper Arrow and the victims' bodies about an hour later in a wooded area near Purdue's Ackerman Hills Golf Course. The Tippecanoe County Coroner's office has identified the victims as pilot Dustin L. Walters, 22, of Lafayette, and passenger Tiesa L. Knoth, 34, of West Lafayette. Neither was employed by nor attending Purdue, Purdue spokesman Joseph L. Bennett said in a news release Sunday.\nThe four-seat plane was owned by Lafayette Aviation, a private company that provides a charter, rental and flight training service for the Purdue University Airport. Walters was a former employee of the company, university officials said.\nThe pair took off from the Purdue University Airport between 5 and 5:30 a.m., and the plane did not catch fire, Bennett said.