Photo: KMOV4 News
Two people are presumed dead following a plane crash in Missouri, according to officials.
The New Melle Fire Protection District reports that a small, twin-engine propeller aircraftcrashed in a wooded areanear New Melle, Mo., on Saturday after “experiencing trouble” in the air.
Officials have determined that “the crash was not survivable,” according to a statement shared on the department’s Facebook page.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families after this tragic event,” the NMFPD said on Sunday.
New Melle fire officials were alerted to “an aircraft in distress” near Highways D and Z just after 7:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, per the department’s statement. One witness told officials that they thought they heard the sound of an aircraft “going down” near Highway F and Calloway Ridge Drive.
The downed aircraft departed Spirit of St. Louis Airport with two individuals aboard, according to New Melle fire officials. The aircraft allegedly ran into trouble after reaching 8,000 ft. and “appeared to turn back toward the airport before descending rapidly” from the sky.
Rescuers located the aircraft in the woods just off Rugged Acres Drive around 10 p.m. that evening. The crash left a “large” field of debris, though no fire was sparked after the aircraft hit the ground.
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“Obviously this is heavily wooded down here in the Defiance Augusta area. And so that makes the terrain more challenging to conduct a search in this nature,” said St. Charles County Ambulance District communications director Kyle Gaines, according toKMOV4.
New Melle Fire Chief Dan Casey said the search for the victims was called off due to the location of the crash, KSDK reports. The plane is registered to Kalitta Charters, a Michigan-based charter airline company, per the outlet.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said the plane,a Beechcraft Baron 58, was headed for the Centennial Airport outside of Denver, per theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The FAA and the NTSB are investigating the incident. Knudson said a preliminary crash report will likely be released within the next two weeks, per the paper.
source: people.com
