* Sean Crawford…

Sources have confirmed former Springfield Mayor Frank Edwards and his wife Cinda, the Sangamon County Coroner, died when a twin engine plane crashed Tuesday afternoon. A third unidentified person also died, along with a dog on board.

The plane had left Florida and stopped for gas in Alabama. It was headed for the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport.

“The tower reported the plane was having trouble on approach due to weather and its instruments,” said Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell. “The plane apparently tried to make a circle around Springfield where they could come in again. At that time is when the tower lost contact with the plane.”

The Piper Aerostar went down in a field and caught fire on the southeast side of Springfield, near Rochester. The crash site, near White Timber Road, was only about 75 feet from a house, said Campbell. No one on the ground was injured, but some residents were evacuated as a precaution.

My deepest sympathies to the family and to the coroner’s staff who had to respond to this tragedy. That must’ve been just horrible.

* Bernie…

Residents in the area said they heard “a loud boom” as the plane crashed.

“I was sitting in my chair in the living room. I heard the explosion and thought it was an unusual sound,” said Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath, who lives near the scene. “I ran over to the crash site and the plane was already engulfed when I got there. There were a handful of people, police officers and the fire department, on the scene already. The flames were so high, about 30 feet that no one was getting close. It was a scene you don’t want to see.”