Preliminary report released on plane crash that killed Butler native, husband
New details have been released into this month's small plane crash in Centre County that killed a Butler native and her pilot husband.
The information is contained in the National Transportation Safety Board's recently released preliminary report. A cause is still pending.
Valerie D. Bernardo, 54, and Joseph T. Bernardo, 55, both of State College, died when their single-engine plane went down May 1 into the side of Sandy Ridge Mountain in Rush Township.
Valerie Bernardo was born in Butler and her mother lives in Chicora.
The report confirmed that the couple was flying to the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township.
The fixed-wing plane, owned by a State College-based flying club, crashed just minutes after takeoff from University Park Airport.
Read more in Friday's Butler Eagle.