Victims killed in northwest Nebraska plane crash identified

A coroner on Tuesday identified three people killed in a northwest Nebraska plane crash, which was the second small plane crash in the Nebraska Panhandle in a month.

Coroner and Dawes County Attorney Vance Haug named the victims as Scottsbluff resident Dr. Matthew Bruner, 44, his son Noah Bruner, 21, and Gering resident Sydnee Brester, 19, the Star-Herald reported .

A National Transportation Safety Board spokesman has said the six-passenger plane, a Cessna T310R, took off from Chadron Municipal Airport and crashed about a mile and a half away on Sunday. The federal agency is investigating the crash.

First responders found the small plane in a rural area near the airport after witnesses reported seeing a fireball or explosion near Chadron.

Dr. Matthew Bruner was the chief medical officer at Regional West Medical Center and Brester was a family friend, the newspaper reported.

Brester was a freshman at Western Nebraska Community College and a member of several vocal music ensembles at the school, according to a release from the college.

Two people were killed in another single-engine plane crash on Oct. 31 about 5 miles north of Harrison. The NTSB also is investigating the cause of that crash.