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Update: Two Area Businessmen Killed in Plane Crash

By Greg Bebermeyer & David Meyer

01/12/2013

( KNZA/KAIR )--Two area businessmen were among four people killed in a plane crash near North Platte, Nebraska Friday afternoon.

Killed in the crash were the pilot, Mark Bottorff, president of Bottorff Construction in Atchison, and passengers Ken Babcock, president of Ken Babcock Sales of Hiawatha and Jason Drane, operations manager at Babcock Sales.

Also killed was Chris Nelsen, a salesman for Scott-Hourigan Company of York, Neb.

The Omaha World Herald reports the plane took off from North Platte Regional Airport at 3:46 Friday afternoon headed for York.

Authorities say the last contact between the plane and the air tower occurred seven minutes after takeoff.

The trip from North Platte to York was scheduled to take about 45 minutes.

A missing aircraft notice was issued when the plane didn’t arrive at its destination.

The crash occurred about 15 miles northeast of the North Platte Airport.

Jerry Ernzen, vice president of operations for Bottorff Constuction, said Bottorff and Babcock collaborated on construction projects around the region that involved large complexes of grain bins and silos. They had been in North Platte to look over a project that was under way and to investigate a job for later this spring.

Ernzen said Bottorff was an experienced pilot and had logged more than 2,600 hours of flying. He was flying a multi-engine BE-58 manufactured by Raytheon and registered to Bottorff Construction.

The National Weather Service in North Platte reported freezing drizzle and visibility of three miles and a cloud ceiling of 900 feet at the time of the accident.

The National Transportation and Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have begun an investigation into the crash, which could take up to a year.

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