Grant County plane crash under investigation

Federal officials are investigating a plane crash in Grant County that left three members of a Nebraska family dead Thursday.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are looking into a 4:30 p.m. crash that killed 59-year-old father William Lauber, 58-year-old mother Christine Lauber and their 21-year-old daughter Ragan Lauber, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.

The family was flying in a 1967 Piper PA-30 fixed-wing multi-engine aircraft when the plane fell out of the sky and hit the ground along County Road 870, about nine miles southwest of Pond Creek, the highway patrol reported. Pond Creek is roughly 37 miles southwest of Blackwell.

The Associated Press reported that William and Christine Lauber, along with their daughter Ragan, were flying back to Nebraska from Austin, Texas, after having visited their other daughter.

The highway patrol reported that William Lauber was the pilot.

The occupants were extricated by the Pond Creek Fire Department, and their remains were taken to the medical examiner’s office. Several other agencies also responded to the crash.

The highway patrol reported that the family was wearing seatbelts, and that the skies were cloudy at the time of the incident.

Federal officials are expected to release a preliminary report in the coming weeks.