Three die when plane hits Minnesota home

Three people aboard a small airplane died when it crashed into a home in northern Minnesota.

The couple sleeping inside the house were unhurt. Hermantown Police said the plane crashed into Jason Hoffman says he and his wife awoke when the plane tore through the roof above their bed. Hoffman says “The first thing I saw was an airplane wheel sitting at the end of our bed.”

Authorities have released the identities of the three individuals who died in the accident.  Alyssa Schmidt, age 32, of St. Paul, and her brother, Matthew Schmidt, age 31, of Burnsville, were passengers in the Cessna 172. Tyler Fretland, age 32, of Burnsville, was the airplane’s pilot.

NTSB is at the accident site and working the investigation.