TULSA, OK – Five people were pronounced dead at the scene of a small passenger plane crash that took place at about 10:40 a.m. Saturday. The plane crashed into Chandler Park in west Tulsa, killing three men and two women according to EMSA reports.
The plane apparently hit a cable before it crashed, according to an on scene report. Witnesses heard a loud noise - a big pop - and then the plane crashed into the field.
After tumbling into the field, the small plane broke into several pieces and caught fire. Two victims were ejected, and three were left in the plane, according to witness accounts.
The plane was headed to Dallas and left Jones Riverside Airport just after 10:30 a.m., according to Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesman George Brown. The plane was a single-engine, six-seater passenger plane.
EMSA pronounced five people dead at the scene: three men and two females. Ages are thought to range from teens to 50s. The two younger people were female.
A witness at the park ran up to the plane and told authorities that five people were killed in the accident.
Chandler Park is located at 6500 W. 21st St. The plane is believed to have crashed at the back of the park near a maintenance building.
The crash is under investigation by Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Tulsa police and fire and Berryhill fire are on the scene.
What is sad is that my wife and I took our son to watch the airplanes at RVS and this one was the first to take off when we got there. About 30 minutes later, we saw the Channel 6 and 8 helicopters take off from RVS, both heading in the same direction.
It was foggy, but at the ground, visibility was about miles or so. There is a hill just NNW of RVS that is about 5 miles, and I could see it, but there was some fog in front of it for sure. Low ceilings at the time as well. I am thinking there is more to this because of how far Chandler Park is from RVS. The Saratoga would (should) have been much higher by the time they made the turn to go south to Dallas. Some think they were headed to Dallas for the OU/BYU game.
As far as “fog”. I would describe what was in Tulsa at the time as like a coastal fog that I used to expreience in Morro Bay, CA. It has been trying to burn off all day long, and it is just now really starting to lift/clear up. By my standards (remember, I grew up in BFL, so I am used to the Tule Fog), I wouldn’t consider it “fog”.
Thanks for thinking about me though. Good news is that 84HL is at APA right now dropping off baby stuff for my niece that is going to be born in 2 weeks.
Edit: Commenter on Ch6 comments section claims to have been rock climbing at the park when the crash occurred. Claims that they never heard the engine. Speculate away.
It was “SkyNews6”, the helicopter for the local CBS affiliate. Only thing I can think of is the investigator could be using the helicopter as a reference for visibility in the area.
I am assuming this aircraft was departing to the north as he was heading toward KTUL and in a westbound turn at the time of the crash.
I don’t know the minimum altitudes for a Runway 1 departure out of KRVS but overall he seemed to be very low for being 8 miles out, considering the rise in terrain from KRVS to the crash site. I would like to hear the controller/pilot dialogue that took place after departure. With 5 souls and baggage it might be easy to speculate other possible scenarios.
On ongoing investigation now shows the pilot filed an IFR flight plan, knowingly flew into IFR conditions, yet did not possess an instrument rating. If he suffered any kind of mechanical emergency on takeoff into those conditions, especially fully loaded, that’s certainly a recipe for disaster.
How do you know he didn’t pass his Instrument check ride yesterday, or the week before? Or even a month ago? My question would be how often are the FAA online records refreshed.
How do you know this? If you base this on tail number, another IA rated person could have flown that flight.
I think on incidents of this nature for readership sake, you should state that you are basing an opinion or if it’s fact for purposes of accuracy. What you provided in my opinion only supports an opinion of **what you think **is a contributing factor.
When you stated contributing factor as you did when I chimed in, this made me think you had an inside track to some information of this incident.
Geez, why is it every time I post a comment here I get the 3rd degree from an “expert” aviator?
I don’t claim to be an expert here nor am I a pilot. Just passing on what I’ve gleaned from the media sources today that no else has bothered to bring up here.
The record shows that as of today, he has a Private rating which he obtained in 1987 and NO Instrument Rating. That’s the facts that anyone can obtain with a simple Google search.
If this is the case, a family is snuffed out because a pilot tries to cheat the system. (Gee, imagine that!)
I find the combativeness within these forums is quite prevalent.
This isn’t the intent of my response. My intent was to be sure what is posted on very unfortunate incidents is to be sure we at least disseminate accurate information or preface it as an opinion. We don’t need to act like the media
Had you said, in my opinion rather then “contributing factor” you and I wouldn’t be exchanging like this. We at this stage really don’t know for fact if indeed it was contributing factor. Theory sounds plausible, I am not even debating that myself but it is just that a theory, not necessarily a contributing factor…
We truly won’t know for awhile. Based on what little I know based on what I read thus far, I’m guessing at this point…a little vertigo may have set in? At that altitude, seconds count dearly, currently rated or not. I’ve. had it. Scared the hell out of me. I was shaking for the next 40 or so minutes till I got to my destination. Flying in the soup at 9000. I ended up at 7000 and came out enough to see the horizon at a 45. And it was only seconds that passed from when I did my last scan. And I never even felt it. Just a thought.
We’ve seen a few examples of discussions in these forums being quoted in news articles. On aviation topics, our truth filters are certainly better than the media’s. Thus when the topic is a high-profile accident, many of the regulars here will try to pin down sources to make sure opinions and speculation (which DO commonly appear here) don’t get passed along as facts by the media.
I also notice some combativeness occurring for other reasons, like politics and personal history among the regulars, but that’s unrelated to this case. I’m just explaining why I hope you won’t take this one personally.
This isn’t uncommon at all. Pilots flying aircraft without a rating or even a license. I knew a guy who solo’ed as a student pilot in a PA28. The next week he took delivery of a brand new Piper Seneca. Never saw an instructor again. The FAA busted him a couple of times but what could they do?
That, unfortunatley, went beyond the recipe. This situation was in the oven cooking. What a shame. Very sad.
