NTSB releases preliminary report for Auburn crash that killed Valparaiso man, former UNK student

AUBURN, Neb. -- Federal officials have released their preliminary findings after investigating a plane crash that killed two people in southeast Nebraska, including a former UNK baseball player.

24-year-old Colton Hill, of Kearney, and 41-year-old Dustan Biegler, of Valparaiso were killed in the crash near Auburn on January 11.

According to NTSB investigators, the Cessna 150H left Lincoln at 6:45 p.m., eventually climbing to 3,500 feet. Once the plane was approximately six miles northwest of Bud Farington Field in Auburn, it began its descent. The last air surveillance report captured the plane 1.1 miles away from the airport at 7:22 p.m., approximately two minutes before the crash is believed to have happened.

The plane was expected to return to Lincoln that evening, and authorities received a call reporting a missing plane at approximately 11:00 p.m.

Authorities found the plane in a farm field without crops approximately 1.2 miles south of Runway 34 at the Auburn airport. The NTSB report said the plane came to rest upright about 135 feet southeast of the initial impact point.

NTSB officials said there was no evidence of a wire strike. There were no witnesses.

Hill played baseball at UNK before graduating. He owned a flight-training operation.