St. Charles East grad killed in Michigan plane crash

A 2007 graduate of St. Charles East High School was killed Sunday when the single-engine airplane she was in crashed in Allegan County, Mich.

According to the Allegan County Sheriff's Office and Hope College in Holland, Mich., the airplane made a distress call late Sunday morning before losing contact with air traffic control at Muskegon County Airport in Western Michigan.

After beginning their search around 11:30 a.m., emergency crews found the wreckage of the plane in a field south of the airport. They also found the bodies of a man and a woman in the plane. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Although authorities have not yet released the names of the victims, Hope College said in a statement on its Web site that the deceased were: Emma E. Biagioni, Class of 2011, and David O. Otai, Class of 2012.

According to the college, Otai rented the plane from Tulip City Air Service Sunday morning.

The college is providing counseling to students and held a memorial service for the victims Sunday evening at Dimnent Memorial Chapel.

According to local media reports, Biagioni was active in students groups at Hope College, including sailing, student newspaper and Model United Nations. Otai, according to reports, was an international student from Kenya who enjoyed soccer and hoped to become a missionary.

At St. Charles East, Biagioni was a member of a club that addressed teen substance abuse and was also active in student newspaper and National Honor Society, according to the school's yearbook.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.