A plane en route to Oxford crashed Sunday morning near Northport, Alabama, killing three dentists and their spouses.

All six of the deceased are from Oxford. They had been attending a dental seminar together in Florida.

Among the deceased are Oxford dentists Dr. Jason Farese and his wife, Dr. Lea Farese, a family member and employee of the Fareses has confirmed with The EAGLE.

Others killed in the crash are Dr. Michael Perry and his wife, Kim; and Dr. Austin Poole and his wife, Angie, sources told The EAGLE.

Dr. Poole and his wife live in Wellsgate in Oxford, but his dental practice is in Clarksdale.

Dr. Perry, of MidSouth Dental Implants & Periodontics, graduated from Ole Miss and was a member of Kappa Sigma social fraternity. He graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry. Kim Perry was a nurse practitioner and worked at Ole Miss. Michael and Kim Perry are survived by three children.

The Fareses, both dentists at Farese Family Dental in Oxford, left Wednesday for Florida, attending a dental continuing education seminar. They were returning home to Oxford Sunday morning.

The Fareses leave three children behind, ages 10, 7, and 5. The youngest just started kindergarten this week. The Perrys leave behind three children and the Pooles leave behind five children.

The Pooles and Perrys attended the dental seminar with the Fareses and were returning home with them.

Oxford University Aircraft Charters LLC. operated the plane, according to flight information. Mississippi Secretary of State records show the registered agent of the company, Oxford University Aircraft Charters LLC., which was owned by the Fareses.

The address listed for the charter flight company is the same as Farese’s dental office, at 2212 West Jackson Ave.

The plane is a Piper Navajo twin piston. The plane left the Kissimmee Gateway airport in Florida at 9:55 a.m. EST Sunday. Officials said they encountered engine problems around Tuscaloosa.

The crash occurred at about 11:20 a.m. Sunday, east of the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport.

The plane went down behind the farmers market in Northport, officials said.

A woman who lives nearby told the news site that she heard two loud booms.

An FAA spokesperson said the Piper PA-31 aircraft crashed into trees on approach to Runway 30 at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be in charge of the investigation and will release updates. The FAA is assisting NTSB in the investigation.

Northport Mayor Bobby Herndon and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox offered condolences Sunday during a press conference to the families of those who perished in the crash.

“It’s a sad day and I’d like to offer our prayers for the families,” Herndon said.

Maddox said what information he could provide was limited due to the ongoing investigation into the crash.

“There are families greatly hurting from this and we’re certainly going to do our due diligence to make sure we do this in a way that honors them, and gives them the opportunity to get some peace during this difficult time,” Maddox said. “We hurt for the families here in Tuscaloosa. None of us would want to wake up to this kind of news.”

 

(Oxford Eagle Publisher David Magee, Editor Alex McDaniel, Managing Editor Rob Sigler, City Editor Alyssa Schnugg, and Al.com, all contributed to this report.)