Plane Crashes in Missouri, Killing Pilots
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 16, 2004
Filed at 12:17 a.m. ET
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A small jet crashed in a residential area, killing the only two people aboard, airline officials said Friday. The plane had aborted an earlier scheduled takeoff because of an apparent mechanical problem.
Federal investigators said Friday the regional jet affiliated with Northwest Airlines had aborted a scheduled flight Thursday from Little Rock, Ark., after an indicator light went on for a mechanical system that distributes engine heat throughout the plane. An airplane indicator light typically signifies a problem.
After undergoing maintenance, the 50-seat Pinnacle Airlines plane was being flown without passengers to Minneapolis when its engines failed late Thursday and it crashed into a residential area in Missouri's capital city, killing the two pilots. No residents were hurt.
While noting the previous mechanical problem, National Transportation Safety Board member Carol Carmody said: ``We're not going to speculate on what the causes are'' for the crash.
According to the NTSB, the plane reached 41,000 feet before it stalled and lost power from one engine. At 13,000 feet, the second engine quit. The last contact air traffic controllers had with the plane was at 9,000 feet, when a pilot reported an airport beacon in sight, Carmody said.
The crash site is about two miles from the Jefferson City airport.
Pinnacle Airlines, based in Memphis, Tenn., identified the pilots as Capt. Jesse Rhodes, of Palm Harbor, Fla., and First Officer Peter Cesarz, of Helotes, Texas. Carmody said earlier Friday the pilots' bodies had not been recovered, but that there was ``no doubt'' they had died.
Carmody said NTSB investigators planned to move the engines to an airport hangar Saturday for closer evaluation. Authorities also had recovered the flight data recorder.
Jason Turner, a spokesman for the Jefferson City Fire Department, said the plane appeared to have crashed into ``a garage of some type,'' which was destroyed. The rear of a neighboring house also caught on fire.
At the crash scene, the cockpit was separated by about 70 yards from a large chunk of the fuselage and was so shattered that it could be difficult to recover the plane's instruments, Carmody said.
On Friday, residents marveled at how the plane had managed to miss houses to its left, right and rear. Across the street was an untouched apartment complex.
``Oh boy, it's lucky it didn't hit the houses,'' said Kathryn Hajaved, 72, viewing the damage in daylight for the first time. ``They'll be thanking their God.''
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