Mogul Among 7 Killed in Fiery Private Jet Crash

'Inquirer' co-owner aboard plane bound for Atlantic City
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2014 6:11 AM CDT
Updated Jun 1, 2014 8:23 AM CDT
'No Survivors' in Fiery Small-Plane Crash in Mass.
In this April 12, 2010 photo, New Jersey Nets owners Lewis Katz, right, and Bruce Ratner sit courtside at an NBA game. Katz died last night in a small-plane crash.   (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

A Gulfstream IV bound for Atlantic City crashed in a small airfield near Boston as it was taking off late yesterday, killing all seven people aboard. "There were no survivors," a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority tells the AP. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the people on board and their loved ones." Among the dead was Philadelphia Inquirer co-owner Lewis Katz, editor Bill Marimow confirms. Katz, 72, had, with another mogul, bought out Inquirer partners for $88 million last week. He was also a former co-owner of the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils, as per the AP

The private jet was leaving Hanscom Air Force Base around 9:40pm when it apparently ran into the woods, notes CNN, crashing and erupting into a ball of flame. Witnesses report seeing a fireball that by one man's estimate reached 60 feet in the air. "I heard a big boom, and I thought at the time that someone was trying to break into my house because it shook it," says a 14-year-old who lives nearby. "I thought someone was like banging on the door trying to get in." The NTSB is investigating. (More plane crash stories.)

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