Dr. Morris Wortman, 72, of Rochester, died Sunday when the plane he was was in crashed in Orleans County, New York. Earl Luce Jr., at the controls of a replica of the 1938 Wittman Buttercup, was also was killed, reports NBC News. Wortman, a fertility doctor, was under investigation after accusations he impregnated several of his patients with his own sperm.
The crash of the aircraft, identified by the National Transportation Safety Board as a Wittman W-5 Buttercup airplane, remained under investigation Tuesday.
Preliminary findings indicate that "the wings of the aircraft became detached from the fuselage and fell to the ground in an orchard," Sheriff Christopher Bourke said in a news release Monday. The fuselage continued west for another 1,000 to 1,500 yards before crashing.
The replica fell apart in the air. Wortman's legal troubles came courtesy of modern DNA matching technology.
The daughter discovered that Wortman was the donor after DNA genealogy tests revealed she had at least nine half-siblings, her medical malpractice suit said. The civil lawsuit, which is pending in Monroe County Court, said follow-up DNA testing with Wortman's daughter from his first marriage confirmed the genetic link.
