17-year-old prospective UO student and parents died in Friday’s plane crash

Originally Posted on Emerald Media via UWIRE

One of the victims of Friday’s plane crash in Linn County was a prospective University of Oregon Student, John Zitting, 17, according to AroundtheO and an OregonLive article. His mother, Karen, and father, John, died in the crash along with pilot Mark Gregory Aletky, 67.

The private plane crashed 10 miles north of Eugene during a windstorm. The cause of the crash in still unknown.

The father worked as president of TruNorthe, a construction company in California. The family lived in Thousand Oaks, California.

Zitting, 17, was a high school senior at Westlake high school in California. The family was on its way to visit the University of Oregon according to OregonLive.

The University of Oregon released this message Saturday: “It is with great sadness that we learned a private plane crash in Linn County resulted in death of prospective University of Oregon student John Zitting, his parents John and Karen Zitting, and pilot Mark Gregory Aletky. This young man was destined for a very bright future, and we are privileged he was considering the UO. The entire university community extends its deepest sympathy to all of those impacted by this tragedy.

 

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