Atchison, KS - A 34-year-old Maplewood High School graduate was one of two victims in a deadly airplane crash in Kansas on Sunday.

The Atchison County Sheriff's Office says Bethany Root was the passenger of a World War II fighter plane when it crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday morning. 

The pilot flying the P-51 Mustang, 64-year-old Vlado Lenoch, of Burr Ridge, Illinois, was also killed in the crash.

"We were devastated," said Jennifer Root, Bethany Root's sister-in-law who resides in Cortland.

She says Root recently became the general manager at the Amelia Earhart Airport. The entire family couldn't have been more proud of what Root had accomplished.

"She was actually one of three women in her field doing crop dusting. It was her dream to go and fly and she accomplished that," Root said.

Officials say the crash happened just one day after the plane flew along the Missouri River during an air show during the Amelia Earhart Festival on Saturday.

The Federal Aviation Administration was called to the crash site to investigate.

The cause of the crash is unknown at this time. 

Root was a 2001 graduate of Maplewood High School where she ran track, was a member of the drama club and was described as dedicated to her studies.

Former Maplewood High School English Teacher Bil Bosheff says he knew Root would always go on to achieve success in whatever she set out to do.  "She really could do anything," he said. "You knew she was going to do something that she loved."

Root's two brothers currently live in Trumbull County. The family is now in the process of working on plans to hold services in her memory back in the Trumbull County area.