WTHR |IU mourns loss of five music students

IU mourns loss of five music students

Jennie Runevitch/Eyewitness News

Bloomington, April 24, 2006 - Practice goes on at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, but the melodies are missing five tremendous talents. The lives of five music students were taken in a small plane crash last Thursday night, just a mile from the Monroe County airport.

Students and staff are still trying to cope with the loss that has made an impact far beyond the campus community.

"It's the magnitude of it I think that's making it difficult for people to grasp what's happened," said Gwyn Richards, Jacobs Music School dean. "London has been in touch. The Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, the Guildhall School, have all been in touch to offer their sympathies as well."

Four of the five students' families are now in Bloomington, planning memorial services in their respective hometowns, each day this week. The first is set for Tuesday in Monroe, Michigan, for 28-year-old Chris Carducci.

"We're making sign-up lists for our students and we're going to provide transportation for each one of those," Richard said.

The university also wants to plan a permanent remembrance on campus.

Meantime, the NTSB is still trying to find out why the plane went down. They have finished analyzing the wreckage of a plane that was inspected annually. BMG Aviation helped maintain it and said the Cessna showed no signs of problems.

"This was a very nice aircraft, probably top in its class, as far as mechanical and appearance," said Bob Burke, BMG Aviation. "I can't imagine maintenance being an issue with it."

The licensed pilot, student Georgina Joshi, had a flawless flying record, too. The investigation's focus is on the fog that fateful night.

On campus, the focus is getting through the grief. "I don't think it's quite struck, the loss that we've incurred," Richards said.

The preliminary report from the NTSB on a cause should be out later this week.

Meanwhile, IU has dedicated a special page on its music school website to pay tribute to each of the five students killed. It includes bios, blogs, and a list of memorial services scheduled for this week.