Former Springfield mayor, Sangamon County coroner killed in plane crash

The lights of emergency vehicles can be seen behind rescue personnel as they stand along a gravel lane that leads to the site of an airplane crash near Springfield, Ill., Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. | Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register via AP

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Former Springfield, Illinois, Mayor Frank Edwards and his wife, Sangamon County Coroner Cinda Edwards, were two of the three people killed when a small plane crashed in a central Illinois field, authorities said Wednesday.

In this Oct. 18, 2012, photo, Sangamon County Coroner Cinda Edwards listens to questions during an interview the editorial board of The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill. Authorities say former Springfield, Illinois, Mayor Frank Edwards and his wife, Cinda Edwards, were two of the three people killed when a small plane crashed in a central Illinois field. The twin-engine Piper Aerostar went down around 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, in an unincorporated area of Sangamon County.

The crash Tuesday also killed John Evans, 69, of Glenarm, said Jim Allmon, chief deputy coroner for Sangamon County.

Edwards, 69, was appointed mayor by the Springfield City Council in December 2010 after the death of Mayor Tim Davlin. Cinda Edwards, 63, had been coroner since 2011.

The twin-engine Piper Aerostar went down around 3 p.m. Tuesday in an unincorporated area of Sangamon County.

The plane was attempting to land at Abraham Lincoln Capitol Airport in Springfield when the pilot reported having trouble with the plane’s instruments, the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department said.

Also killed in the crash was a dog.