Pilot killed in Indiana plane crash was college student from Maple Grove

Alexander Foss, 20, was a Purdue University student.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
April 18, 2024 at 11:24AM

Authorities have identified the pilot killed in a plane crash last week in Indiana as a college student from Maple Grove.

Alexander Foss, 20, was the only person on board when a single-engine Piper PA-28 went down last Thursday in a field near Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., Tippecanoe County Coroner Carrie Costello said. The wreckage was not found until the following day, the FAA said.

The coroner’s office used DNA samples supplied by relatives and processed by the Indiana State Police Laboratory to positively identify Foss, Costello said.

Foss, a junior at Purdue, was a student majoring in aviation flight, a school spokesman said.

“Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the family, friends, and the Purdue University community at this difficult time,” Costello said in a statement.

Foss died of multiple blunt-force injuries sustained in a plane crash, the Coroner’s Office said.

Foss had rented the plane from Purdue Aviation and took off from the Purdue University Airport, the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office said.

The Sheriff’s Office, Coroner’s Office, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

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about the writer

Tim Harlow

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Tim Harlow covers traffic and transportation issues in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and likes to get out of the office, even during rush hour. He also covers the suburbs in northern Hennepin and all of Anoka counties, plus breaking news and weather.

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