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Families Plan To Erect Memorial For Those Killed In American Eagle Flight 4185

Last updated on Thursday, October 31, 2013

(INDIANAPOLIS) - Relatives of the 68 people killed in a 1994 commuter plane crash in northwestern Indiana plan to erect a permanent memorial near the rural crash site and dedicate it next year on the 20th anniversary of the crash.

The new installation, still in the conceptual stage, will replace a simple roadside memorial with 68 crosses that's long stood near the remote field where American Eagle Flight 4184 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, after ice coated the turboprop's wings during a flight from Indianapolis to Chicago.

Jennifer Stansberry Miller of Fishers, Ind., said the cross display is difficult to maintain because the crosses -- some adorned with photos and mementos of victims -- must be removed and replaced by volunteers every time the roadside grass is mowed. She and other members of the group Families of Flight 4184 are working to raise money informally for the new permanent memorial.

"Our goal is to create something meaningful and well thought out that does not require the maintenance the crosses have for 19 years," she said.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined in 1996 that Flight 4184 developed ice on its wings while in a holding pattern in rainy weather, waiting to land at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. It dropped swiftly from the sky and plunged into a field about 30 miles south of Gary.

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