Four dead in plane crash near Perryville
Four people are dead after a single-engine plane crashed on a hillside in Perry County Thursday, outside of Perryville.
Among the deceased are two Oklahoma State University women’s basketball coaches, Kurt Budke, and his assistant coach, Miranda Serna.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that the aircraft went down under “unknown circumstances” in a wooded area four miles south of Perryville at about 4:30 p.m.
“We are still working to confirm flight path and other details,” said Lynn Lunsford, mid-states public affairs manager for the FAA.
The aircraft’s pilot, former Oklahoma Sen. Olin Branstetter, 82, and his 79-year-old wife, Paula, also died according to The Associated Press.
According to an FAA registry, the Piper PA-28-180 aircraft was built in 1964 and registered to Branstetter, a resident of Ponca City, Okla.
Perry County Sheriff Scott Montgomery told the AP that hunters first notified emergency officials and led them to the scene after they heard a plane having engine trouble, then saw it spiral down into a wooded area.
Montgomery said that a deputy who was first on scene told him it was likely that none survived the crash.
National Weather Service of Little Rock data showed unrestricted visibility at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the area and winds at 5 mph out of the south. The temperature at the time of the incident was 52 degrees.
(Staff writer Courtney Spradlin can be reached by e-mail at courtney.spradlin@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
