Indian American Family Killed in Small Plane Crash in PA

WILLOW GROVE, PA. – A small plane crashed in the backyard of a suburban Philadelphia home in the morning hours of Aug. 8, killing a husband and wife and their 19-year-old daughter, who were the only people on board.

The plane went down around in Willow Grove, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, shortly after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport en route to Columbus, Ohio. Officials said that wasn’t the final destination but couldn’t elaborate.

The plane hit several trees before it stopped, and the debris was spread across four backyards, said Upper Moreland Police Chief Michael Murphy.

The victims were identified as 60-year-old Jasvir Khurana, his 54-year-old wife Divya Khurana and their 19-year old daughter Kiran, all from Lower Merion Township, in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Jasvir Khurana was a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Temple University’s Katz School of Medicine, where he studied bone disease.

His wife, Divya Khurana, was a pediatric neurologist at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and a professor at Drexel University College of Medicine.

No one on the ground was injured and no homes were damaged, which Murphy called “a miracle.”

The National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the scene in the afternoon, and their investigation is underway, according to Adam Gerhardt, an air traffic investigator with the agency.

There is no indication the pilot made a distress call and the plane was only in the air about three minutes before the crash, Gerhardt said.