Two Purdue University students are dead following the crash of a plane one was piloting onto a Noblesville golf course.

Joseph Neuzerling and Joshua D. DeBoer, both 21-year-old mechanical engineering students, were killed when the plane crashed Thursday afternoon at Harbour Trees Golf Club.
Purdue spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg confirmed that both men attended Purdue and appear to have been roommates living off campus.
"Four members of the Dean of Students Office met last night with family and friends to offer support and assistance which will be ongoing," Norberg said.
According to the Purdue Airport records, the plane, with registration number N-107GX, departed from the airport at 4:30 p.m. Thursday with DeBoer piloting.


A witness said a small, two-seater plane circled once above the Harbour Trees Golf Club course in Noblesville "and then corkscrewed right in."


The small aircraft smashed into the green of the third hole of the course at 5:07 p.m. Thursday, killing the two men aboard, authorities said.


Eric Smith, 45, said the plane's engine was running as it circled the golf course, and he watched it crash behind his home on Roxbury Lane in North Harbour, Noblesville, near Morse Reservoir.


Smith was the first person to reach the plane, and he said he pulled away a wing that was lying on top of a man in the plane.


"I ripped the gas tank and threw it out," he said, because it was leaking and posed a threat. He said he determined the man had serious injuries and no pulse.


Norberg called the incident "a tremendous tragedy not just for family and friends but for everyone at Purdue," Norberg said.


Norberg said Purdue's Counseling and Psychological Services department is reaching out to friends of the two students and can be reached at (765) 494-6995.