‘Shocking and heartbreaking:' Community reacts to NY plane crash deaths of Van Epps family

Loved ones, friends and community members are mourning the Georgia family killed in a devastating small plane crash in upstate New York, recalling the two young boys who died as exceptional school athletes - and their parents as committed adults who sought to support them in every endeavor.

The Van Epps family had been on their way home Sunday following a trip to Cooperstown, where 12-year-old James was participating in a baseball tournament. James' grandfather, a licensed pilot, had volunteered to fly them.

Also aboard: Laura Van Epps, James' mother, his father Ryan and 10-year-old brother Harrison. All five were pronounced dead at the scene after the single-engine Piper PA-46 piloted by grandfather Roger Beggs crashed in the town of Masonville around 2 p.m. after taking off from Albert S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta.

It took hours to find the plane in the rural area. The bodies were in the wreckage, officials said.

Jim Van Epps, Ryan's father, and the other grandfather of the two boys, told the Associated Press the loss was "a massive tragedy for our family and the end of five great lives, especially young lives."

Laura and Ryan Van Epps were both 42.