NBC Sports Chief Ebersol Survives Jet Crash

NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol and his college-aged son, Charles, emerged from the fiery wreckage of a corporate jet in Colorado on Sunday morning after it crashed and burst into flames after its takeoff, killing two crew members.

Authorities say Ebersol’s younger son, 14-year-old Edward (known as Teddy), is presumed dead.

“We believe at this time that the boy has probably perished within the crash,” said Matt Eilts, Montrose County chief deputy coroner.

Ebersol, 57, who is said to have non-life-threatening injuries, is married to TV actress Susan Saint James (McMillan and Wife, Kate & Allie), 58. She was not aboard the charter jet, which was flying from Montrose Regional Airport, near the Telluride ski resort, to South Bend, Ind., where Charles is a senior at Notre Dame University. The Ebersols live in Connecticut.

Witnesses say there was heavy snow on the ground at the time of the crash, and one observer told the Associated Press that the impact ripped the cockpit from the fuselage, and that Charles helped his 57-year-old father to safety through the front of the plane. There were five people aboard the 19-passenger-capacity aircraft.

Denver NBC affiliate KUSA-TV said crews searched by helicopter and on the ground for Teddy, but even his plane seat could not be found in the wreckage.

The plane was identified as a CL-602 Challenger registered to Jet Alliance of Millville, N.J., says AP. The company offered its condolences in a statement, but said it had no additional information.