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Crews Look for Missing in Mo. Plane Crash

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Rescue crews searched woods and fields Wednesday for any sign of five people missing after a commuter plane crashed and burned as it carried doctors and other medical professionals to a conference. At least eight people died, while two others escaped with little more than broken bones.
The plane had taken off from St. Louis and went down Tuesday night with 15 people aboard as it came in for a landing in Kirksville, a city of about 17,000.
Authorities called it a miracle that anyone managed to survive the crash of the Jetstream 32, a 19-seat seat twin-engine turboprop flown by Corporate Airlines.
Rescuers found the plane's fuselage in flames, its wings broken off. Other debris, including the tail, was scattered over an area more than a half-mile wide.
The two survivors, a 44-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man, suffered only broken bones and some burns, and were in fair condition Wednesday.
"We see car accidents with worse injuries coming in here every week," said Dr. Charles Zeman, director of trauma services at Northeast Regional Medical Center. "This is truly a miracle."
Sgt. Brent Bernhardt of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said rescue workers were holding out hope the five missing also survived the crash and would be discovered in the daylight.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The crew's last communication indicated the plane was on a normal approach to the airport, with no mention of any problems, said Elizabeth Isham Cory, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators recovered both of the plane's flight data recorders.
"The black boxes are very important to the investigation, provided they're in good condition," said NTSB member Carol Carmody. "These looked like they were. We never know until we read them out."
The plane clipped treetops before crashing on private property in a wooded area between two fields. Some of the victims were found dead in their seats. The woman who survived was walking around when rescuers arrived, and the man was found in brush about 25 feet from the fuselage, Chief Sheriff's Deputy Larry Logston said.
Many of the passengers were on their way to a Wednesday conference on humanism in medicine, said Philip Slocum, dean and vice president for medical affairs at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. Two were from the New Jersey-based Arnold P. Gold Foundation, said Barbara Packer, the foundation's managing director.
"As bad as you think it's going to be, it's worse to go through it. There's been a lot of tears. It's very painful," Slocum said.
Both the airline and investigators declined to release the names of anyone on board. But in New York, the office of Dr. Steve Z. Miller, director of pediatric emergency medicine at the Columbia University medical school, said he was one of the passengers.
"A lot of people in our class are very close to him," said Josiah Ambrose, a fourth-year medical student. "He has a lot of interaction with the students here because he's very loved. He was a pretty pivotal part of our medical school."
One of the two survivors is Dr. John Krogh of Wallsburg, Utah, a part-time faculty member teaching physical therapy at Provo College, the school said.
Corporate Airlines, based in Smyrna, Tenn., began operating in 1996 and is affiliated with American Airlines.


I personally think this is your classic case of CFIT (controlled flight into terrain)

Hmm......so Corporate Airlines has two new pilot positions now.