APG, Tishman Construction and Revel Entertainment Employees Among the Eight Dead Following Plane Crash

By Megan Headley, Drew Vass and Debra Levy

Photo courtesy of AP.

In addition to the two victims from APG International in Glassboro, N.J., one employee of Tishman Construction Corp. of New York and three with Revel Entertainment Group of Atlantic City, were among the victims of this afternoon's deadly plane crash in Owatonna, Minn.

Two employees of APG International-chief operating officer Marc Rosenberg and assistant project manager Alan Barnett-were confirmed by USGNN.com™ to be among the dead.

Karen Sandland, project manager of Tishman Construction, was later confirmed to be among the deceased.

The Raytheon plane, a part of the Hawker 800 series, was traveling from the Atlantic City International airport in New Jersey to the Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in Minnesota. According to Sharon Gordon, director of communications of the South Jersey Transportation Authority, "The plane landed here at 7:10 a.m. this morning. It was an East Coast jet and required very little service. It turned around quickly with no fuel needs, and departed at 8:13 a.m."

The charter plane is registered to East Coast Jets Inc., a charter operation based in Allentown, Pa. Gordon noted that the plane originally came from Allentown and stopped in Atlantic City to pick up additional passengers. According to Gordon, "The plane carries 10 passengers-two crew and eight passengers."

Seven passengers were originally confirmed killed; one died hours later at Owatonna Hospital. At least one other passenger was reported as unaccounted for, but authorities could not confirm that a ninth person was indeed on board.

According to Ed Zaucha, chief executive officer of APG, who spoke with USGNN.com today, Marc's brother Eric Rosenberg had also considered going on the trip but in the end he did not and was not on the plane.

"It was a general aviation flight, so we don't know who boarded," Gordon says. "We think, I mean, we can speculate, that some local business folks boarded [but cannot confirm this]."

Christine Shaffer, Viracon's marketing manager, confirmed this afternoon that the individuals on the flight were customers of Viracon's and were traveling to the company's headquarters in Owatonna, Minn., for a meeting with the glass fabrication company.

"A lot of the media is under the impression that it's a Viracon plane but that's not accurate," said Shaffer.

Several newspapers have reported that the individuals on the plane were meeting with Viracon to discuss work on the Revel Hotel & Casino project in Atlantic City.

Individuals at APG's offices have confirmed that immediate family members have been notified.

Zaucha later issued a statement to the press regarding the accident.

"First of all, let me say that losing Marc and Alan-who have been so important to this company and to me personally-is extremely difficult," he said. "I speak for all of us when I say that we are in total shock. This has been a sad, sad day.

"We are working to gather accurate details about the crash. As you might imagine, additional information is hard to come by, as our firm is not directly involved in the investigation.

"In conclusion, let me stress that along with Marc's and Alan's families, we are doing our best to persevere in the face of this tragedy. They will be greatly, greatly missed."

CLICK HERE to read the press release issued by APG.

Stay tuned to USGNN.com™ for further updates as they occur.

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