Officials investigate a single-engine plane crash at the Wright Brothers Airport, located on Ohio 741 in Miamisburg.
Updated 8:57 PM Thursday, April 1, 2010
MIAMISBURG — Tom Hausfeld and his daughter Kacie, a member of the University of Dayton volleyball team, died in a single-engine plane crash Thursday afternoon, April 1, near Ohio 741 along Pennyroyal Road near Settlers Walk, a friend of the family said.
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Rich Fox, of the Federal Aviation Administration control tower at Dayton International Airport, said the private plane went down at about 12:55 p.m. near the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport.
No other people were believed to be aboard.
The airplane departed Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport for the DuPage County (Ill.) Airport in suburban Chicago when the pilot reported that a cargo door was open, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said. The pilot was attempting to return to the Wright Brothers Airport when the plane went down short of the runway, the FAA said.
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation, with assistance from the FAA, Cory said.
The turbo-prop airplane, manufactured in 1983, was registered to Poelking Air LLC, of Wilmington, Del.
The airport is in Montgomery and Warren counties, but the crash occurred in Warren County.
The plane crashed at the south end of the runway of the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport. Ohio 741 was closed immediately after the crash; the southbound lanes were expected to reopen about 2:30 p.m., while the northbound lanes were expected to be closed indefinitely.
Springboro Police Chief Jeff Kruithoff is reporting that the crash involved one plane that is “totally destroyed.”
According to Miami Twp. Police Maj. John DiPietro, witnesses said the plane was taking off when it experienced mechanical trouble. The pilot tried to turn around. The plane wing hit the runway as the pilot tried to land, then the plane caught fire and rolled.
Fox said the plane was a Beechcraft Bonanza, single-engine plane.
Fox said the cause of the crash is not known.
“The plane is barely recognizable,” according witness George L’Heureax, a producer for WHIO Radio, who was in the area. “It’s broken into several pieces, but flattened.”
Sue Hilinski of Vandalia was driving south on Ohio 741, at the airport’s edge, when she noticed the aircraft coming in low and fast to the runway.
“It was awful. I didn’t think I was watching an accident happening,” Hilinski said. “The left wing hit the ground. It toppled it over. As soon as the body of the plane hit the ground, it exploded into flames.”
Tim Hall said he and his daughter were driving north along Ohio 741 when they spotted the plane.
“They were landing, but they were in a steep descent.” The plane banked right, with the right wing dipping about 60 degrees from the level, Hall said.
Hall, an aviation buff, said the pilot appeared to be trying hard to get the airplane lined up with the runway that runs southwest to northeast.
Seconds later, a column of black smoke rose about 200 feet into the sky, Hall said. The plane had cleared a barrier at the end of the runway, but crashed and burned.
“I looked at it and there was nothing left,” Hall said.
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Joan Lipinski, from Cincinnati, was at the gas station when the crash happened.
“The plane was really low going over the gas station,” she said. “The wing hit first and then it just crashed. It was an odd, kind of surreal thing to see. I called 911.”
Woolfork said “there are about 50 units here. They’re from all over.”
Woolfork saw crews from Miamisburg, Miami Twp., Springboro and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office.
Noted forensic dentist Dr. Gregory McDonald of Sugarcreek Twp. was working at the scene on behalf of the coroner’s office. He was examining the remains.
Troopers from the Dayton post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol also are on scene.
