Plane in Nebraska crash that killed three was registered to Sebastopol man

A plane that crashed Wednesday afternoon in Nebraska, killing the pilot and two passengers, was registered to a Sonoma County man, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The Beechcraft Baron 55 plane belonged to Damon Brown of Sebastopol, the FAA said. It crashed at 2:30 p.m. a half-mile north of the Chadron Municipal Airport.

It was unclear Thursday whether Brown, listed in public records as being 61, was on the twin-engine plane when it crashed.

Dawes County Attorney Vance Haug told the Rapid City Journal that all three people on board were from California, but said he could not release their names until his office notified family of their deaths.

Haug’s office did not immediately return a call or email.

FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro in an email said the plane was traveling to Chadron from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where an annual aviation gathering called the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh was taking place.

The cause of the crash was unknown, he said in the email Thursday evening. He said the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.