Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Kansas City, Missouri
Piper Aircraft, Inc.; Vero Beach, Florida
Lycoming Engines; Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Hartzell Propeller, Inc.; Piqua, Ohio
Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
PPG Properties, LLC: http://registry.faa.gov/N3127R
NTSB Identification: CEN15LA077
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, December 12, 2014 in Springfield, MO
Aircraft: NEW PIPER AIRCRAFT INC PA 32R-301T, registration: N3127R
Injuries: 2 Serious, 2 Minor.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On December 12, 2014, about 1730 central standard time, a Piper PA-32-301T, single-engine airplane, N3127R, was substantially damaged after impacting an obstruction and terrain during an approach to landing at Downtown Airport (3DW), Springfield, Missouri. The pilot and one passenger were seriously injured and the other two passengers sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to PPG Properties, LLC; and was operated by Integrity Home Care, Inc.; both of Springfield, Missouri. Night low visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight. The airplane had departed Lee's Summit Municipal Airport (LXT), Lee's Summit, Missouri, about 1620 and was destined for 3DW.
The airplane had descended on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to Springfield-Branson National Airport (SGF), Springfield, Missouri. After reaching VMC the pilot cancelled the IFR flight plan and advised he was proceeding direct to 3DW. The airplane was northeast bound flying at an altitude of 1,645 ft when it struck the top of a 367 ft tall cellular tower. The airplane was then about two miles southwest from 3DW. After a complete loss of engine power the airplane descended, impacted trees and terrain in a congested residential area, and came to rest upright. Several witnesses saw or heard the accident and immediately called 9-1-1 emergency.
An examination of the 17 ft. tall lightning rod on top of the tower showed impact damage, which corresponded to impact, marks on the airplane and the propeller. The separated tips of all three propeller blades and the separated portion of the left flap were found on the ground near the base of the tower. Parts of the lightning rod and its mast were found wedged in the top of the tower structure. Police officers that responded to the tower location immediately after the accident reported that the white strobe light on the top of the tower was still operating.
An examination of the airplane wreckage showed the tips of all three propeller blades were missing and there was impact damage on the left wing that breached the left wing fuel tank and penetrated from the leading edge all the way through to the front side of the spar of the left wing. There was a significant fuel spill at the scene, but no postimpact fire. The postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
At 1652 the automated weather observing system at SGF, located about 5 miles northwest from the accident location, reported wind from 180° at 6 knots, visibility of 10 miles, overcast clouds at 1,800 ft., temperature 11° C, dew point 7° C, with an altimeter setting of 30.26 inches of mercury. Data from the United States Naval Observatory indicated that sunset occurred at 1656, and the end of civil twilight occurred at 1725.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge: Chapter 14, Page 14-28, instructions for operations at a nontowered airport are that the pilot should "Enter (the traffic pattern) in level flight, abeam the midpoint of the runway, at pattern altitude (then) maintain pattern altitude until abeam approach end of the landing runway on downwind leg (and) complete (the) turn to final at least ¼ mile from the runway".
The FAA Airport/ Facility Directory, North Central U. S., indicated that 3WD was a non-towered airport with a field elevation of 1,375 ft. msl. The only runway was 11/28, which was an asphalt runway 4,037 ft. long by 50 ft. wide. Runway 11 was oriented to 108 degrees magnetic, and runway 28 was oriented to 288 degrees magnetic. The traffic pattern altitude for 3DW was not published.
According to FAA Aeronautical Circular AC 90-66A "Recommended standard traffic patterns and practices for aeronautical operations at airports without operating control towers", Paragraph 8 (c): "It is recommended that airplanes observe a 1,000-ft. above ground level (AGL) traffic pattern altitude".
NTSB Identification: CEN15LA077
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, December 12, 2014 in Springfield, MO
Aircraft: NEW PIPER AIRCRAFT INC PA 32R-301T, registration: N3127R
Injuries: 2 Serious, 2 Minor.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On December 12, 2014, about 1730 central standard time, a Piper PA-32-301T, single-engine airplane, N3127R, was substantially damaged after impacting an obstruction and terrain during an approach to landing at Downtown Airport (3DW), Springfield, Missouri. The pilot and one passenger were seriously injured and the other two passengers sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to PPG Properties, LLC; and was operated Integrity Home Care, Inc.; both of Springfield, Missouri. Night low visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight. The airplane had departed Lee's Summit Municipal Airport (LXT), Lee's Summit, Missouri, about 1620 and was destined for 3DW.
The airplane had descended on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to Springfield-Branson National Airport (SGF), Springfield, Missouri. After reaching VMC the pilot cancelled the IFR flight plan and advised he was proceeding direct to 3DW. Witnesses about 2 miles southwest from 3DW saw the northeast bound airplane impact the top of a 367 foot tall tower and continue flying northeast. Other witnesses about one mile from the tower saw the airplane impact trees and terrain. The witnesses immediately called 9-1-1 emergency.
An examination of the airplane wreckage showed the tips of all three propeller blades were missing and there was impact damage on the left wing that breached the left wing fuel tank and penetrated from the leading edge all the way through to the front side of the spar of the left wing. An examination of the tower showed the 17 foot tall lightning rod and mast were separated and impact damaged. The tips of all three propeller blades and the separated portion of the left flap were found on the ground near the base of the tower, and parts of the lightning rod and mast were found wedged in the top of the tower structure. Police officers that responded that evening to the tower location after the accident reported that the white strobe light on the top of the tower was still operating.
At 1652 the automated weather observing system at SGF, located about 5 miles northwest from the accident location, reported wind from 180 degrees at 6 knots, visibility of 10 miles, overcast clouds at 1,800 feet, temperature 11 degrees Celsius (C), dew point 7 degrees C, with an altimeter setting of 30.26 inches of Mercury. Data from the United States Naval Observatory indicated that sunset occurred at 1656, and the end of civil twilight occurred at 1725.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The four people who survived the crash of a small plane on Friday evening near Evangel University call themselves “The Miracle Four.” Co-pilot Greg Horton said Monday that they have no other way to explain it.
Bill Perkin, the pilot, and Horton were hospitalized after the crash. Horton returned home on Monday morning but Perkin is still hospitalized. Passengers Paul Reinert and Amy Ford walked away from the mangled plane, and went to see doctors on their own.
Integrity Home Care of Springfield owns the Piper Saratoga, a six-seat, single-engine plane. The group flew to Lee’s Summit on Thursday to visit the company’s office in Kansas City. On the return trip, they hit a cellular telephone tower as the plane approached the Springfield Downtown Airport about 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Horton is the company’s chief executive officer and co-owner. Reinert is the company’s other co-owner. Perkin is a company vice-president and Ford is the company’s director of hospice; she had never flown in the company’s plane before this trip.
Perkin is also the owner of KSPR-TV; KY3 Inc. operates KSPR under an agreement with Perkin Media. He said Monday that he expects to go home by the end of the week but will return to a hospital for surgery again in about two weeks.
Horton talked about the flight on Monday afternoon at his home. After clipping the tower next to the Martin Luther King Bridge on Benton Avenue, causing the engine to stop working, Horton started looking for a place to crash land while Perkin maintained control of the plane.
Less than a minute later, while trying to glide toward the downtown airport, the plane smashed through tree tops and spun around on impact between two houses. Trapped in the twisted wreckage with Perkin, Horton said fumes from leaking fuel quickly filled the air.
"I've had a song on my mind the last few days. I remember sitting there and all I could remember was, ‘Breathing in His grace, breathing out His praise.’ (song lyrics). I knew the fuel was leaking out,” said Horton. “I had in my head, I had the knowledge this could explode any second, but that song, I know it's why I did not panic."
What's mind boggling and uncanny is the vacant lot where the plane came down is not even the length of a football field. Another 100 feet in any direction and the wreckage would've slammed into houses or power lines or both, or hit an Evangel dormitory across the street.
“Other than God's angels guiding into the ground, I don't know how we got there and I'm anxious to hear the details,” Horton said.
In the blink of a eye, and maybe two minutes from a safe landing, they hit the tower.
“I saw the top of the tower, we hit it and the engine changed pitch,” Horton said.
Perkin held the plane in a glide as the engine quit.
“I knew we were going to come down and I was looking for Bill to spot a landing spot.”
Cars, streets, houses, businesses whizzed by in the dark below. A university campus was coming up quickly on the horizon, but Horton says all was calm on board.
“Then, ‘Bang!’ We sheared off a tree.”
The crippled plane spun around when the dead engine hit the ground. The two passengers in back bailed out unhurt. Perkin and Horton were trapped in the crumpled cockpit.
Seventy-two hours after being rushed to an emergency room, Horton said the unbelievable is still unexplainable.
“I’m in wonder and amazement at how God protects us through everything we went through,” he said. “Every day, every moment, I find something new to be thankful for.”
http://www.ky3.com
Reinert was in the back seat of a small private airplane that clipped a cellphone tower and crashed into a vacant lot on the Evangel University campus on Friday evening, narrowly missing several homes on its way down. And although he left the scene virtually unharmed, he said the incident has left him a bit shaken.
"Our pilot did an incredible job of finding a place to land that thing with no buildings," Reinert said. "While I got whipped around pretty good, I was able to stand up and walk out of the plane."
All four people inside the plane survived. Two were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, while Reinert and Amy Ford — who was also in the back seat — walked away from the scene.
Reinert is the co-owner of Integrity Home Care of Springfield, along with Greg Horton, who was in the front seat of the plane. The pilot, Reinert said, was Integrity's vice president Bill Perkin.
Reinert said he visited Perkin at Cox South on Saturday morning, and the pilot is recovering from a couple of broken bones. A CoxHealth spokeswoman said Perkin is listed in stable condition. A Mercy Hospital spokesman said Horton is listed in good condition.
Reinert said the plane made contact with something in the dark sky over Springfield as the group returned from a visit to Kansas City. He said he immediately knew something was seriously wrong.
"Once that happened, it became very difficult to control the plane," Reinert said. "Within a few seconds, the engine went off, and it was clear we were going to have to crash land.
"I knew that Bill was an excellent pilot. I knew he would do his best to find a place that would give us some chance of survival, and he did."
Reinert said those 60-90 seconds with the plane malfunctioning in midair were long ones, but he did his best to keep his composure.
"You feel somewhat out of control," Reinert said. "There wasn't a whole lot I could do, so I was going to just try to be alert and do the best I could."
Reinert said after the plane crashed, he grabbed Ford and helped her out of the wreckage. He then went back to retrieve Horton and Perkin, but they were stuck.
First responders were there in less than two minutes, Reinert said, and they were able to pull the other two occupants from the wreckage.
Reinert said he is still processing everything, but he feels lucky to be alive.
"I was fortunate," Reinert said. "There was a minute or a minute-and-a-half with some pretty high anxiety prior to finding the ground."
Brenda Hill, a public relations manager for Verizon Wireless, confirmed Saturday that the plane made contact with a Verizon-owned cell tower near Chestnut Expressway and the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge.
Hill said there was no loss of service, but Verizon representatives were on the scene Saturday to assess the damage to the tower and determine what repairs were needed, if any.
"We never had a disruption of service, so we know that if there is damage, it is nothing that made the tower go down," Hill said.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration were on the scene of the crash and at the tower by 10 a.m. on Saturday. And by 5 p.m., police tape was down, and the plane pieces had been loaded onto trucks and removed from the scene for further investigation.
Terry Williams, public affairs officer for the National Transportation Safety Board, said FAA investigators are reporting back to the NTSB so the two agencies can piece together what went wrong.
Williams said the investigation is still in its early stages and he did not anticipate the NTSB releasing much information on the cause of the crash until at least Monday.
"We are gathering information the FAA is providing to us," Williams said. "We are going to be looking at the engines and we are going to be talking to any witnesses. Of course, everyone in this particular crash survived, so we are going to be talking to the pilot."
Elizabeth Cory, media spokeswoman for the FAA, confirmed that the plane flew out of Lee's Summit and was heading to the Downtown Airport in Springfield.
Cory said she could not speculate on what may have gone wrong since it is still an open investigation. She said the FAA is looking into the licensure of the pilot, certification and maintenance of the aircraft and rules of flight. She said investigators would pull radar, talk to witnesses and potentially send parts of the plane back to the manufacturer for review.
Cory said the airplane involved was a Piper 32, a single-engine aircraft that seats six people.
A witness saw the plane clip the cell tower near Chestnut Expressway and the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge around 5:30 p.m. Friday, before it traveled another mile and a half over rush-hour traffic and went down in a small empty field near Pythian Street and Delaware Avenue — less than 100 feet from several houses and right across the street from a playground.
There was no apparent damage to any structures in the area, and first responders seemed to have the situation under control in a matter of minutes.
Kent Boyd, spokesman for the Springfield-Branson National Airport, reported that aviation weather conditions were unremarkable Friday. Visibility was 10 miles, with a ceiling of 1,600 feet. Winds were from the southeast at 8 knots, or about 9 mph.
A piece of the crashed plane (long white object) lies on the ground near a communications tower about a mile southwest of the crash site.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Springfield police confirmed late Friday night that they found debris from a small plane about a mile southwest of the spot where the plane crashed earlier in the evening. The debris is near a telephone tower on the east side of Benton Avenue, near the Martin Luther King Bridge over Jordan Creek and the railroad tracks.
The discovery of the piece of the plane appears to verify information from a witness who says he saw the plane clip a tower. The Springfield News-Leader reports the witness was hooking up a trailer at Moore Printing on Jefferson Avenue, a couple of blocks from the tower, when he saw the plane hit the tower. Police cordoned off around the tower and the debris on Friday night.
Two people were taken to a hospital, and two others were able to walk away from the wreckage. The single-engine plane crashed on the south side of Pythian Street between Glenstone and Delaware avenues about 5:40 p.m. Friday. That's just south of Evangel University.
Two of the four people on the plane were taken to a hospital by an ambulance for what seems to be minor injuries. The other two people went to a hospital on their own to be checked out.
The six-seat plane is owned by Integrity Home Care of Springfield. The pilot is Bill Perkin, a company vice president. The passengers are chief executive officer Greg Horton and Paul Reinert, owners of the company, and Amy Ford, the company's director of hospice. They were returning to Springfield after visiting Integrity's office in Kansas City.
Perkin is also the owner of KSPR-TV; KY3 Inc. operates KSPR under an agreement with Perkin Media.
The plane was returning to Springfield from Lee's Summit. It ended up mangled on the ground on its belly in a brushy vacant lot in a residential area near Pythian at Delaware Avenue. It hit some trees before it hit the ground.
Jody Waggoner lives on Delaware near the crash. He says he was in his house when he heard something that sounded like someone coming up to his yard and hitting his truck. He says the impact shook his whole house.
Waggoner said he went outside and saw people in the alley with flashlights. Shortly afterwards, emergency responders arrived.
Waggoner says he walked over to look at the plane crash and says it looked pretty bad. He says one person was pulled out of the wreckage on a stretcher.
The Springfield Downtown Airport is about half a mile east of the crash site, on the east side of Glenstone Avenue, behind the huge building that used to be a cup factory. That airport serves small private planes such as the one that crashed.
The plane is a Piper Saratoga. According to FAA online records, it's been recently bought by Integrity Home Care of Springfield.
The Flight Aware website indicates the plane flew on Thursday from Springfield to Lee's Summit, just south of Kansas City. The plane then left Lee's Summit at 4:25 p.m. Friday for the return trip to Springfield.
Integrity Home Care provides home health, hospice, pharmacy, and personal care services to seniors and disabled individuals in their own homes.
The Federal Aviation Administration and or the National Transportation Safety Board will send investigators to the scene, but likely not until Saturday morning.
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Here's a message from Kent Boyd, spokesman for Springfield-Branson National Airport:
"I’ve received several calls this evening about the plane crash near Evangel.
"The Springfield Airport’s aircraft/rescue fire department received no word this evening about an aircraft is distress. Likewise, our general aviation staff heard nothing from airborne aircraft in the area.
"It is reasonable to conclude that the downed plane was landing, or taking off from Downtown Airport.
"Aviation weather conditions this evening in Springfield are unremarkable. Visibility is 10 miles, with a ceiling of 1,600 feet. Winds from the southeast at 8 knots (9 mph).
"Investigation of the incident will be done by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)."
http://www.ky3.com
A small private airplane left a trail of what-ifs in its wake as it flew over mid-town Springfield on Friday and crashed into a vacant lot on the Evangel University campus.
A witness saw the plane clip the cell tower near Chestnut Expressway and the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge at around 5:30 p.m., before it traveled another mile-and-a-half over rush-hour traffic and went down in a small empty field — less than 100 feet from several houses and right across the street from a playground.
All four occupants survived. Two went to the hospital with minor injuries, and two others did not need medical transport, the city reported on Friday night.
There was no apparent damage to any structures in the area, and first responders seemed to have the situation under control in a matter of minutes, even though the plane was reported to have been on fire at one point.
KY3 reported that the pilot of the plane was Bill Perkin, owner of KSPR-TV. KY3 said the passengers were Greg Horton, Paul Reinert and Amy Ford, and the plane is owned by Integrity Home Care of Springfield.
Lt. Chad Eutsler, with the Springfield Police Department, was on the scene at Evangel. He said the situation could have been much worse with so many homes and buildings in the vicinity, but he could not speculate on if the pilot crash-landed in that spot on purpose.
"We are very fortunate," Eutsler said. "We don't know the circumstances, if it was something where the pilot was able to take action to do that, but I am sure that is something the investigation will be focused on."
The investigation into exactly what happened is now in the hands of the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. A release from the city said investigators were not expected until Saturday morning.
The portion of the plane's aircraft registration visible to a News-Leader photographer following the crash appears to match that of a single-engine plane that left Lee's Summit Municipal Airport at 4:25 p.m., according to the the flight-tracking website FlightAware. The website indicates the plane was headed to the Downtown Airport in Springfield, with a scheduled arrival time of 5:29 p.m.
Ken Walker was hooking up a trailer at Moore Printing Company on North Jefferson Avenue when he said he saw the plane clip the cell tower near Chestnut Expressway with its right wing.
Walker, who also pilots small airplanes, said the crash scene had the look of more luck than skill.
"I would say it just wasn't his time to die," Walker said.
Walker said the plane looked to be flying too low as it hit the tower. He said fuel started blowing out of the plane after it made contact with the tower, but the pilot was able to keep the wings level.
Walker said he thought the pilot may have been flying low to stay under the dropping cloud cover.
There was police tape around the tower on Friday night, and an officer on the scene said there was a piece of an airplane on the ground next to the tower.
Derrick Dann lives a few blocks away from the crash site on Pythian Street. He said he saw the plane before it crashed and immediately knew something was wrong.
"We were outside and we heard a plane and we looked up and it was flying real low," Dann said. "Me and my wife were like 'Oh my God, that thing is going to crash.' And then all of a sudden you just heard a bunch of trees (snapping) and a bunch of noise."
Evangel spokesman Paul Logsdon marveled aloud that the plane hit the ground where it did.
"It's sort of a miracle it landed there near a cluster of trees," Logsdon said. "That's one of the very few bare stretches around."
Logsdon said the lot was one of several residential properties Evangel owns in the area. He said the university buys up lots on occasion as they become available. The lot where the crash occurred is on the south side of Pythian in an area where five houses had been taken out, he said.
Aaron Braunberger, a student at Evangel, was walking across campus when the crash occurred. He said he thought initially that it was a car accident until he saw the overwhelming response from police and firefighters.
"There were so many lights and vehicles here," Braunberger said. "It was crazy."
The crash occurred near the downtown Springfield airport, a relatively small, privately-owned airfield southeast of the intersection of Glenstone Avenue and Division Street. The airport is open to the public. Private planes account for most of the air traffic at the airport, which does not have an on-site control tower.
Officials have not said for certain whether the plane was attempting to land at or take off from that airfield.
No one answered calls to the Downtown Airport's main phone number after normal business hours. The News-Leader's attempts to locate a phone number for General Manager Bradley Byron were unsuccessful.
Kent Boyd, spokesman for the much-larger Springfield-Branson National Airport, said his facility's aircraft/rescue fire department received no word about an aircraft in distress, and the general aviation staff heard nothing from airborne aircraft in the area.
Boyd reported that aviation weather conditions were unremarkable Friday. Visibility was 10 miles, with a ceiling of 1,600 feet. Winds were from the southeast at 8 knots, or about 9 mph.
It was clear from the scene that at least two people had to be removed from the plane by emergency workers and were taken away on stretchers, but officials later reported that no one suffered severe injuries.
Logsdon said no Evangel buildings were damaged.
OzarksTraffic.com, a website maintained by state and local traffic authorities, listed the location of the crash as 1620 E. Pythian St., between 900 N. Waverly and 900 N. Delaware. The site reported an "aircraft emergency" at 5:30 p.m. The initial report listed the location as 1111 N. Glenstone Ave. — an address for Evangel University — between 1800 E. Pythian and 1800 E. Bergman.
County property records show the lot is owned by the university.
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