Three Michigan men who died and another who was seriously injured when their small plane crashed Friday in southeastern Minnesota were flying to South Dakota to hunt, authorities said Saturday.
Killed were Joel A. Garrett, 79, of Troy; Dale E. Garrett, 49, of Berkley; and John P. Bergeron, 50, of Birmingham, according to the Houston County Sheriff's Office.
Joseph S. Stevens, 61, of Bloomfield, Mich., was seriously hurt. He was flown by helicopter to Gunderson Hospital in nearby La Crosse, Wis. The hospital declined to release any information on him Saturday evening.
Craig Hatch, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, arrived on the scene about 2 p.m. Saturday.
He learned that the flight had left Troy, Mich., and was headed to South Dakota, with a planned stop in Caledonia, but it wasn't clear whether it was for fuel or a break, NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said from Washington, D.C.
Hatch hopes to interview the survivor once he recovers, Knudson said.
A farmer had reported a possible plane in a field to the sheriff about 4:30 p.m. Friday. The crash came a mile south of the Caledonia Airport, in the southeastern tip of Minnesota.
So far, no witnesses have been located, the sheriff's office said.
