Tonight there are hundreds of families grieving over the loss of two SLUH students and as well as the father of one of the boys.

A plane crash this morning in Arkansas took the life of Warren Langford, his son Brandon and Jacob Ritz. The crash injured 15-year-old Joshua Beckerle and his father Donald Beckerle. The father has already been treated and released from an Arkansas medical center but tonight we are still trying to find a condition report on Joshua. He was airlifted to a St. John's Medical Center in Springfield, MO. That's about 100 miles from the crash scene.

All three 15-year-olds were students at SLUH and both the men onboard were alumni from the school as well. Langford was class of '75. Beckerle class of '84..

Tonight, friends are already leaving their memories on a Facebook page for the boys.

I've cut and pasted the Associated Press story with more details.

LAKEVIEW, Ark. (AP) -- A small plane taking off from a private airstrip at a popular northern Arkansas trout fishing site crashed Friday, killing the pilot and two teenagers from Missouri, authorities said.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said the plane crashed at about 9 a.m. after taking off from the turf runway at Gaston's White River Resort.
Montgomery said two victims died at the scene and the third died at Mountain Home hospital. Two other people also were injured.
The sheriff's office identified those killed as pilot Warren William Langford, 52, of Chesterfield, Mo.; his son, Brandon Langford, 15, of Chesterfield, Mo.; and Jacob Ritz, 15, of Bridgeton, Mo.
Injured were Donald Beckerle, 43, and Joshua Beckerle, 15, both of Eureka, Mo.
Joshua Beckerle was taken to St. John's Medical Center in Springfield, Mo. Donald Beckerle was treated and released from the Baxter Regional Medical Center, the sheriff's office said.
Witnesses told the Baxter Bulletin newspaper that the plane, a Piper Cherokee Lance, wobbled and tilted from side to side as it tried to take off from the grass runway.
"We're not sure if it didn't gain enough altitude or if it ever gained altitude," Montgomery said.
The plane smashed through a fence at the end of the runway and crashed into a small grove of trees alongside the White River. The plane's fuselage apparently broke away and landed about 20 feet from the wreckage.
"The aircraft contacted trees on takeoff," said Roland Herwig, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. He said agents from the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board would investigate.
The plane is registered to Propaire Inc., a nonprofit organization based in St. Louis. A Web site for the organization described it as a club "devoted to the world of general aviation."
A phone number registered to the club was disconnected.
In 2002, a small plane crashed shortly after taking off from the airstrip, killing all three on board.

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