HANCOCK COUNTY — A couple who contributed to the development of a Nevada college arts program have been identified as the victims in the May 22 plane crash in Hancock County.
Robert Walter Holman, 75; and Robin Lynch-Holman, 61, of Incline Village, Nevada, were killed when their Cessna Citation 550, a small, two-engine corporate jet, crashed into a farm field just east of the Indianapolis Regional Airport around 12:40 p.m. May 22 after a refueling stop, airport officials previously said.
The Hancock County coroner’s office identified the couple through dental X-rays and other medical records, Coroner David Stillinger said late Thursday afternoon.
Robert Holman was identified as the pilot, and his wife was listed as the passenger. The cause of death was due to the plane crash, and the crash is considered an accident until further information can be provided from officials at the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration.
A preliminary report on the crash could be released by the NTSB within the next few weeks. Results from the full investigation could take as long as 12 to 24 months, officials from the organization said.
The aircraft went down in a muddy farm field just east of the airport, near the intersection of County Roads 400W and 500N. First-responders had to use four-wheel ATVs to get to the site because vehicles quickly bogged down trying to reach it.
The Aviation Safety Network, a service of the Flight Safety Foundation, reported the plane was in route to Minden-Tahoe Airport in Nevada, about 30 miles south of Incline Village.
“It was a horrific airplane crash,” Stillinger said. “Hopefully the NTSB can shed more light on what truly happened.”
The Holmans were active business executives and philanthropists from Incline Village, a small town of nearly 9,000 people on the northeast edge of Lake Tahoe. The couple in 2012 purchased a building for Sierra Nevada College, also located in Incline Village, which was later named the Holman Arts and Media Center and opened in 2014, according to the Eagle’s Eye, the college’s newspaper.
Sierra Nevada College officials honored the couple with a vigil of decorated luminaries on Tuesday, according to the college’s website.
In an interview with the Eagle’s Eye in 2013, the Holmans spoke about the importance of arts and culture in the community. Both were artists, the newspaper reported. Robert Holman won awards in Hawaii for painting ceramics, and Robin Holman used to sell paintings at small craft fairs in the Midwest.
The couple wanted to see the school’s art, music and media programs continue to grow in the new building.
“If you had to cut through it all, we’re really about helping the students and trying to provide them broader education opportunities and giving them a start with their education that they could use in life,” Robert Holman told the Eagle’s Eye in 2013.
Robert Holman was on the board of directors for New York-based iStar, a real estate investment company. He began his finance career co-founding companies on the New York Stock Exchange, the Eagle’s Eye reported. He previously worked in Hawaii, San Francisco and New York.
In December 2012, Robert Holman earned his commercial pilot glider rating, according to the Aviation Services Directory.
Robin Holman, who served on the board of trustees for Sierra Nevada College, spent more than 30 years working in corporate real estate management, according to her biography on the college’s website. She was the president and general manager of Sandlian Management, Inc. for over a decade and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, according to the Eagle’s Eye. She also volunteered as the vice president of development for the Lake Tahoe SummerFest, an arts festival.
The Holmans also gave a large donation to create a bike park in Incline Village, which was later named the Robert and Robin Holman Family Bike Park, according to Tahoe Weekly magazine.
Stillinger said arrangements are being made to cremate the remains and transport them to the family.
