Plane crash kills president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute

The president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion was killed when the  small plane he was piloting crashed in Middletown, New York, on Saturday, according to media reports. Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, 53, a licensed pilot, was killed when the two-seater Aeronca 7AC aircraft crashed just after takeoff from Randall Airport, about 70 miles northwest of Manhattan.HUC-JIR, a institution of higher learning and seminary for Reform Judaism, has campuses in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles and New York.Panken served as the 12th president in HUC-JIR’s 143-year history, according to the release