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.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.flyingneutrons.com