Witnesses Report Plane "Falling Out of Control"
ANN RealTime Update,
0012, 05.12.07: The previously identified 1979 Cessna is
registered to the Flying Neutrons flying club. It is a
private, non-profit member-owned flying club with 120 members based
at Blue Ash Airport, said Leroy Brooks of the club. Witness
Greg Corson of Evendale told the Cincinnati Enquirer one of the
planes was about 200 feet up when he noticed it while driving.
“The airplane was in a severe nose-down attitiude,”
he said. “It was rolling.”
He initially thought it was a model airplane – but quickly
realized the scale was wrong, said Corson, 52, an aeronautical
engineer with Belcan Corp.
“I saw the airplane, but I did not see the impact on the
ground,” said Corson.
“I knew he was (going) way too fast and could not roll out
of it. So I knew he went down, and I came on over to assist in any
way I could.” He parked his car about 60 yards from the white
plane, which was a crumpled heap in the middle of the street,
directly in front of a home.
“The entire cockpit was crushed,” said Corson, who
was close enough to the plane to touch it. “... I could only
see one (person). I was on the cell phone with 911 by
then.”
Fred Anderton, manager of Blue Ash and Lunken airports, could
not confirm both airplanes took off from the airport.
“That’s very likely they did,” Anderton said.
“The supposition is that they departed from here. Some of the
pilots were quite certain that they had left from here
…There’s a lot of supposition. We’ve got a lot
of pilots sitting around out here, and we’re a pretty close
community, so there’s some supposition as to who it
was.” Authorities have still not released the identities of
the other two casualties.
ANN RealTime Update, 2202, 05.11.07: Updated
media reports now indicate that one of the planes involved in this
tragic accident was a Cessna 172 (file photo, below) with two on
board; their identities are being withheld pending notification of
relatives. The other plane was a Beechcraft Bonanza. That pilot has
been identified as Neils Harpsoe of suburban West
Chester.
Initial Report: Two small aircraft
collided over a residential area in a Cincinnati, Ohio, suburb,
killing the two pilots.
The accident evidently involved two planes, the Federal Aviation
Administration said in a recorded message to the Associated Press.
The agency initially said one of the aircraft might have been a
helicopter. Debris was scattered in an intersection and
backyards.
Witnesses have given conflicting accounts of the types of
aircraft involved.
The FAA said they had no information about the aircrafts' flight
plans or why they were so close together. The closest airport, Blue
Ash Airport, is several miles away. FAA sources note that the the
pilots were not required to file flight plans for their intended
operations and apparently were not in contact with air traffic
controllers.
Resident and witness Joe Muenks
said wreckage from one of the planes fell in a yard about three
blocks from his house.
"It took out about a third of a tree," Muenks said. "The plane
nose-dived ... The metal was so crunched together we could just see
there was no way anyone who was in there could have survived."
What remained of the other plane landed in a street less than a
mile away, he said, blocking the two-lane road with some debris
ending up in a front yard. It narrowly missed a busy
interstate.
Several roads were closed because of the debris. No injuries on
the ground have been reported.
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
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