Four Dead in Connecticut Cessna Crash

A Cessna Citation 560X private jet crashed into a building in Farmington, Connecticut, killing four people. The fatal Cessna plane crash happened at around 9:52 a.m. local time on Thursday, September 2, 2021.

Authorities say the Cessna Citation departed from Robertson Airport in Plainville and was destined for North Carolina when something went disastrously wrong. According to witnesses, the plane experienced a technical problem after takeoff, then fell to the ground and crashed into a manufacturing company building.

The crash killed the pilots, 55-year-old William O’Leary, of Bristol, Connecticut, and 57-year-old Mark Morrow of Danbury, Connecticut. Thirty-two-year-old William Shrauner and his wife, 33-year-old Courtney Haviland, also died in the crash.

Two employees from Trumpf Inc. who were inside the building at the time of the fatal Cessna crash suffered minor injuries. Trumpf is a manufacturing company based in Germany.

About the Connecticut Plane Crash Victims

Dr. William Shrauner and his wife, Dr. Courtney Haviland, were widely respected physicians in the Boston, Massachusetts medical community. Dr. Haviland was a fellow at Brown Pediatric Emergency Medicine in Providence, Rhode Island. She also spent five years as a resident at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston.

Dr. Shrauner was a cardiology fellow at Boston Medical Center who completed his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Shrauner met Haviland at Weill Cornell Medical School. They later married at the Arlington Street Church in Boston. The couple leaves behind a young son, Teddy, who was not traveling with them at the time. Family members told the media that Haviland was expecting the couple’s second child.

Pilot William O’Leary was an experienced aviator who had been flying for three decades. According to a family friend, O’Leary had a “perfect record” flying the Cessna Citation 560X aircraft and was well acquainted with his co-pilot, Mark Morrow. The two men reportedly flew the Cessna plane “all the time.”

Morrow was also an experienced pilot who graduated from the Florida Institute of Technology in the 1980s. FIT is well-known for its advanced aviation and aeronautics programs. After FIT, Morrow spent two years working for Lufthansa Airlines in Hamburg, Germany.

Both pilots were in good standing with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and both had previously worked as flight instructors.

Aviation Attorneys with Experience Litigating Cessna Crash Cases

The award-winning aviation attorneys from the national law firm of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman have litigated numerous cases involving Cessna aircraft. Our attorneys have handled the following cases involving Cessna planes since 1990:

Baum Hedlund aviation accident lawyers are skilled investigators who understand what it takes to determine the cause of a crash, whether the cause involved maintenance issues, pilot error, air traffic controller negligence, weather, defective parts, manufacturing issues, or any other problem or combination of problems. Once our firm finds the cause or causes of an incident, we vigorously pursue claims against all negligent parties to maximize compensation for our clients and their families and send a message that any company that fails to keep air travelers safe will be prosecuted.

If you would like to learn more about your legal rights after an aviation accident, please contact us or give us a call at (855) 948-5098. We offer free and confidential case evaluations.

Connecticut Plane Crash Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the cause of the fatal Cessna plane crash in Connecticut. The agency generally takes at least a year to formulate a report on general aviation crashes. The report will include the likely cause (or causes) of the crash and issue any relevant recommendations to prevent similar crashes from happening.

Aviation attorney Ronald L. M. Goldman has decades of experience litigating aviation cases involving Cessna planes. According to Goldman, the eyewitness reports indicate the pilots were dealing with mechanical failure. “Investigators will scrutinize the aircraft for any technical issues, and they will search for any anomalies in the maintenance logs, among other things,” says Goldman. “Our hearts are with the victims’ families. They need and deserve to know how something like this could have happened.”