Schools Deal with Loss of 2 Students

Posted by DAREDEVIL Friday, December 4, 2009

PEARLAND, Texas - Students and staff at two Pearland schools are saddened Monday morning by the loss of 2 brothers, killed in a weekend plane crash.

13-year old Dylan Lord and his 12-year old brother Brendon Lord died along with their grandfather aboard his single-engine plane in Comal County.

60-year old Carlos McKinney was flying them to Pearland Regional Airport on Sunday after a weekend visit in Kerrville. The Department of Public Safety says air traffic controllers lost contact with the Beechcraft A36 Bonanza in stormy weather.The wreckage was found in a remote area of Comal County.

Dylan went to school in the Pearland Independent School District at Miller Junior High School while Brendon went to school at Rogers Middle School nearby.

Pearland ISD spokesperson Renea Ivy-Sims, says it is a huge loss that strongly affected both campuses.

"It's terrible. It's tragic," said Ivy-Sims on Monday morning outside Rogers Middle School.

" Of course the people at Rogers Middle School had Dylan two years before. He was at their school and now they have his little brother. So these faculty and staff know both boys. They know the family. The boys were both very well loved."

Ivy-Sims says grief counselors are being made available Monday for students, teachers, and staff members.

Visiting their grandparents in Kerrville was apparently just a monthly event for the Lord boys. Wayne Messinger, Pearland airport operations manager, says McKinney has been flying the boys to and from Kerrville for several years.

This time though, McKinney had upgraded his airplane from a Beachcraft V35 Bonanza to the A36. Messinger says the A36 is more powerful aircraft and may need to be handled differently in stormy weather.

Messinger says the fact that the wreckage was spread out and not all in one place is an indication that the plane could have broken up in mid-air.

"If it's an in-flight breakup, it could be that he entered into a strong storm going too quickly. If the air speed's too high and you get into a thunderstorm, it could cause that." Messinger said Monday morning.

"The airplane's pretty stout but it can only take so much."

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