CHICAGO (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed on Thursday when a small business jet crashed near an airport in southern Minnesota, the FAA said.
The victims were customers of an architectural glasscompany who had been headed to Owatonna, a town south ofMinneapolis where the company is headquartered, the firm,Viracon Inc., said.
"We know there are a number of fatalities. We believe thereare as least seven, possible nine" said Elizabeth Cory,spokeswoman for the FAA in Chicago. One local media report saidone person had survived the crash.
The plane was a Hawker 800 jet operating as East Coast JetsFlight 81 and had left Atlantic City, New Jersey, earlier inthe day, Cory said. The charter operator's website said theplane can carry eight passengers.
It crashed near a runway at the airport near Owatonna.Local media reports said heavy thunderstorms and high windswere sweeping the region at the time.
A spokeswoman for Viracon said those on the plane wereheaded for a meeting at its offices, and that no one on theplane worked for the company. Viracon was recently awarded acontract to supply architectural glass for New York's newFreedom Tower on the World Trade Centre site.
(Reporting by Michael Conlon, Editing by Sandra Maler)
