7. NORTHWAYS DIE IN PLANE CRASH
Plane crash kills Northways
On Oct. 26, Ed Northway, a co-founder of Nor-son Inc. in Baxter, and his wife, Jann, were killed when the airplane they were in crashed in a heavily wooded area in Waushara County, about 70 miles north of Madison, Wis.
Ed Northway, 57, who was piloting the plane, and Jann, 54, were flying home after visiting their daughter in Washington, D.C. They were headed from Wheeling, Ill., to Pine River when their Cessna 210 broke apart while in flight and crashed into the ground.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash in which the wreckage covered a path of 2.4 miles. Witnesses reported seeing the plane about 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the ground, spinning straight down without its wings with something hanging from its tail section, according to a preliminary report from the NTSB. Shortly before crashing Ed Northway told an air traffic controller he had lost the plane's gyros and had gone into a spin, the NTSB reported.
Ed and Jann Northway
The owner of the land where the Northway plane crashed plans to build a small memorial to the Northways at the crash site and rename the 18-acre lake next to the site Northway Lake.
Ed Northway, an experienced pilot, owned two aircraft, a Cessna 185 floatplane and the Cessna 210. He flew out of Brainerd until 2002, when he bought his own hangar at the Pine River Airport. He started Nor-son Inc. with his brother, Steve Northway, in 1978. In the early 1990s, Ed Northway sold his interest in the company.
Jann Northway was an accomplished artist, avid runner and cyclist who completed a dozen marathons. She was active in the Nisswa area community as a member of the Nisswa Women's Club, the Cross Lake Area Blue Waters Investment Club, the Nisswa Art Club and others.
Ed and Jann met in Downers Grove, Ill., and were married on Feb. 10, 1969. The Northways have five grown children and two grandchildren. The couple flew everywhere together, to visit their children, to spend time at their cabin in Canada and to their winter home in Tucson, Ariz.
MATT ERICKSON can be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.