Teens in New Mexico plane crash identified

Officials at a southwestern New Mexico charter school have identified the three students among the four killed in a plane crash last week near Silver City.

Aldo Leopold Charter School said 16-year-old Michael Mahl, 16-year-old Ella Myers, and 14-year-old Ella Kirk were on board the single-engine plane that went down about a mile northeast of Whiskey Creek Airport before bursting into flames.

Authorities say the fourth fatality was the plane’s pilot.

Brian Myers, Ella Myers’ dad, told the Albuquerque Journal (http://goo.gl/aUuC7n) that the group had gone to look at the Signal Fire, which started in the Gila National Forest about two weeks ago.

He says the teens earlier had done an eco-monitoring project in that area and were on the flight to collect new data.