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Bettendorf graduate and family killed in plane crash

A Bettendorf graduate and his family were killed in a plane crash in Colorado.
Kerker family

A Bettendorf graduate and his family were killed in a plane crash in Colorado.

KDVR reported that James Kerker, 43, and his wife, Amy Kerker, 39, were traveling in their single-engine plane with their 6-year-old son, Lucas on Monday morning, June 30, 2014. They were flying from their home in  Ohio, had stopped in the Denver area to visit family, and were heading to Moab, Utah, for vacation.

After the family took off from the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in their Piper PA 28-235 they crashed at the Loveland Ski Area under a ski lift in a heavily wooded area, according to the report.

QC Times reported that James Kerker graduated from Bettendorf High School in 1990.

Kerker and his family had reportedly taken trips frequently enrich his son’s life, who was born with a rare genetic disease called Ataxia-telangiectasia, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

According to the National Institutes of Health, Ataxia-telangiectasia affects the brain and is related to uncoordinated movements.

James was a former U.S. Air Force pilot and Amy worked at Nationwide Children’s Hospital as an advanced nurse practitioner in pediatric surgery.

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