Skydiving Coach Dies After NY Plane Crash
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A skydiving coach has died of injuries from a western New York plane crash.
Friends said 53-year-old Thomas "Toma" Medbury of Akron died Friday at Erie County Medical Center.
He had suffered head, neck and spine injuries when the six-seat Frontier Skydivers plane went down after taking off Aug. 1 from the club's Niagara County airfield about 35 miles north of Buffalo. Five others on the plane survived.
Investigators said the plane veered left into treetops after getting 30 to 40 feet in the air, and broke apart as it came down in a wooded area.
An initial Federal Aviation Administration investigation found that a door that opened on takeoff may have contributed to the accident.
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