Elementary School Teacher Among Victims of Airplane Crash Near Duluth International Airport

*NOTE: This event took place in October of 2022

Tragedy struck the Northland over the weekend when a small plane crashed into a Hermantown home, taking the lives of all three people on board. There were two people inside the the home at the time of the crash, neither sustaining injuries.

On Monday, multiple sources have identified the victims of the crash, which took place about a mile south of the Duluth International Airport. They include two Burnsville, Minnesota men and a St. Paul woman who taught school in Burnsville. The trio were reportedly traveling in the Duluth area for a wedding.

Sun This Week, a news source covering the Burnsville area, is reporting Alyssa Schmidt, 32, and her brother, Matthew Schmidt, 31, were passengers in the Cessna 172 that went down just before midnight on October 1, according to Hermantown police.  Also killed was Tyler Fretland, 32, who was the airplane’s certified pilot.

Hermantown police confirmed the Duluth International Airport control tower reported the plane left radar one to 1.5 miles south of the airport, at which point they a crash was feared and they were notified.

The plane hit the second floor of the Arrowhead Road home before coming to rest in the backyard.

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Sun This Week reports Alyssa Schmidt taught second grade at Echo Park Elementary School of Leadership, Engineering and Technology in Burnsville. She had worked in Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan District 196 since October 2014. Schmidt taught kindergarten before moving to third grade in 2020 and second grade this year.

As more information on all the victims becomes known, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

**UPDATE PROVIDED IN LATE OCTOBER, 2022:

In October 2022, tragedy struck in Hermantown when a Cessna 172 plane crashed into a Hermantown home, taking the lives of all three people on board. Killed in the crash were passengers Alyssa Schmidt, 32, her brother, Matthew Schmidt, 31, and Tyler Fretland, 32, who was the airplane’s certified pilot. All were from the Twin Cities area and had come to Duluth to attend a wedding.

There were two residents inside the home at the time of the crash, which occurred just before midnight on Saturday, October 1, and both were uninjured.

Immediately after the crash was reported, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began investigating the exact cause of the incident. The plane had just left the Duluth International Airport and crashed minutes after takeoff.

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The NTSB has released some initial findings of their investigation, and WDIO-TV shared some key points from that report:

• The pilot and passengers were friends who had flown up from a municipal airport in South St. Paul the morning of Oct. 1, attended a Twin Ports wedding and reception, and then attempted to fly back from Duluth International Airport about 12 hours after first arriving. They did not ask for any fueling or maintenance on the plane.
• The pilot, Tyler Fretland, 32, of Burnsville, Minnesota, incorrectly read back a “departure frequency” issued to him and wasn’t corrected by the air traffic controller.
• Preliminary tracking data indicate the plane left the airport’s runway at 11:12 p.m. and turned south while climbing to about 1,750 feet. It then entered a “tight,” 270-degree “teardrop turn” to the left and ultimately climbed to about 2,800 feet before descending.
• The air traffic controller tried to contact the pilot on the departure frequency and heard no response. The controller contacted Fretland on the airport’s “tower frequency” and instructed him to contact departure, which he did.
• As the airplane continued to turn left and descend “with increasing ground speed,” the controller asked Fretland to confirm that he was climbing. “There was no response and no further communication from the pilot,” the safety board’s report reads.
• The plane struck the front of a two-story house, passing through two upstairs bedrooms, and then came to rest upside-down between a parked vehicle and a detached garage. There was no fire, and the crash left about 100 feet worth of wreckage.
• Post-crash checks on the plane’s engine showed no apparent issues with various components.

A the NTSB continues its investigation, you can download their complete preliminary report through the link above. Just fill in the key information on the "Common Investigation Fields."