Two people are dead, including a man from Jasper, after a small plane crashed in central Ohio on Tuesday evening.
Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol identified the victims as 60-year-old Malik Naseem of Jasper and 43-year-old Mohammad Ashraf of Columbus, Ohio.
The crash happened near an airport in London, Ohio nearly 30 minutes west of Columbus. The single-engine Cessna 172 crashed near the approach end of runway 27 at 6:20 p.m.
Officials say the plane was in the air for just over an hour before it crashed.
The Columbus Dispatch reported Naseem is the owner and chief pilot of Ameri Flight School, which is a registered business in Houston, Texas. According to the company’s website, Naseem served as a captain with U.S. Air Force Auxiliary and started his aviation career with the Army as a Cchinook CH-47 helicopter crew chief.
Naseem also “developed a proprietary fast track flight training program” to help aspiring aviators safely get their licenses in the least amount of time, according to the company’s website.
The Dispatch reported the 1977 Cessna has been owned by American Flight Line, a Jasper corporation, since April 2011, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
A Dispatch check with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Business Registry found no record of American Flight Line registered with the state.
