Grandmother took family to surprise grandchildren at volleyball game before all FOUR died in Wisconsin plane crash
Ronald Riek, the first identified victim of the Wisconsin Dells crash, was the experienced pilot who radioed that ice was accumulating on his wings before the plane went down, killing all six on board.A Piper PA-46 Meridian like the aircraft Ronald Riek was piloting when it plunged into woodland near Mirror Lake State Park at 4,000 feet per minute, reaching 340mph.
Mary Brion, 67, her daughters Kayla Turpin, 39, and Amanda Haremza, 45, and grandson Rylan Haremza, 13, died after their plane went down in a wooded area near Mirror Lake State Park on Tuesday night. Pilot Ron Riek, a veteran aviator and Woodville businessman, had alerted controllers to ice accumulating on the Piper PA-46's wings at 24,000 feet and asked to lose altitude before radar contact disappeared. Flight data recorded the aircraft corkscrewing earthward at rates reaching 4,000 feet per minute, with airspeed almost doubling to 340 mph.
David Brion said his wife 'just wanted to find her joy' — the family had seldom been able to see their granddaughters, a five-hour drive away.
Aviation expert Jeff Guzzetti said the crash has 'all the earmarks of an icing-related loss of control', noting that even a slight ice accumulation can rob a wing of its lift entirely.
The NTSB is expected to release a preliminary report within 30 days; Riek's community remembered him as a man who 'would go far and beyond for his workers'.
