Seven dead in airplane crash after NCAA Final Four Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington, Illinois

Besides Bittner and Stralow, the victims were identified as Aaron Leetch, 37, ISU deputy director of athletics for external operations, and Torrey Ward, 36, associate head coach of the Redbirds men’s basketball team; Thomas Hileman, 51, the pilot; Andy Butler, 40, a regional representative for Sprint; and Woodrow "Jason" Jones, 45, a senior vice president/investment officer with Secord-Jones Wealth Management Group.

A private airplane returning from the NCAA men's basketball championship crashed early Tuesday on approach to a central Illinois airport, killing all seven on board, including two members of Illinois State University's athletics department.

The airplane had left Indianapolis about an hour before it crashed roughly 2-1/2 miles from its destination, the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington, Illinois, about 160 miles to the west, officials said.

Torrey Ward, 36, the associate head coach for Illinois State's men's basketball team, Aaron Leetch, 37, a deputy athletics director, and five supporters of the program died in the crash, the university said.

"Words cannot fully express the grief that is felt in the wake of such a tragedy," Illinois State President Larry Dietz said in a statement. "We move between shock and profound sadness."

The McLean County Coroner's Office identified all seven of the men, who were all from the Bloomington-Normal area and were found belted into their seats in the wreckage.

Also killed were Terry Stralow, 64, Scott Bittner, 42, Andy Butler, 40, Jason Jones, 45 and pilot Thomas Hileman, 51, the coroner's office said.

The airplane had been in contact with air traffic control in Peoria, which was handling approaches because the Bloomington airport's tower is closed at that time, officials said.

A search was launched when the airplane did not report back to controllers that it had landed and it was not found at the airport, the McLean County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

The crashed airplane was found about three hours later in a soybean field with no survivors, the sheriff's office said.

The Federal Aviation Administration identified the airplane as a Cessna 414, which is a twin-engine airplane that carries up to 10 people. The National Transportation Safety Board has taken custody of the airplane and is leading the investigation.

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e journey that led to the deaths of seven friends in a plane crash in downstate Bloomington began with a phone call and a once in a lifetime chance to see Monday's NCAA final game.

Scott Bittner, 42, was at the company he runs with his father when he got a call from Terry Stralow, 64, the owner of a popular pub near the campus of Illinois State University. Stralow had an extra ticket and wanted to know if Bittner wanted to come along.

"I'm going," Bittner later told one of his co-workers, Terry Wertz. "I might not ever go again."

Bittner offered the use of his plane, a twin-engine Cessna, and they all headed to Indianapolis: He and Stralow, two members of the ISU athletics department, two other area businessmen and a pilot with years of experience with commercial flying.