BENTON COUNTY : Delivery pilot hurt as plane crashes in field
Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/230890/
PEA RIDGE — A San Antonio woman was transported to Mercy Medical Center on Wednesday after crashing a single-engine airplane.
Hope Elizabeth Gerlits was on approach to the Rogers Municipal Airport when she crashlanded a 1976 Mooney M 20 C Ranger in a field.
The cause was unknown, but Gerlits was apparently making an emergency landing, said Bodie Bell, who was planning on buying the plane.
Bell was waiting at the airport for Gerlits, who was supposed to arrive at 11: 50 a. m. It was about that time he was informed the tower had lost contact with Gerlits.
The red-and-white plane came to rest in a cow pasture on the west side of Miser Road, just south of Arkansas 72. Gerlits managed to thread the plane between power lines and a barbed wire fence.
Pea Ridge firefighters and emergency medical personnel removed Gerlits from the cockpit and carried her out of the field through a hole cut in the fence.
The muddy county road was packed with emergency vehicles, pickups and onlookers, including Bell and his family, who went to survey the damage while the ambulance backed down the road.
Benton County Central Communications received a 911 call from a passer-by about 12: 15 p. m., said Marshal Watson, director of Benton County Department of Emergency Management.
Watson said the Federal Aviation Administration was not expected to investigate the crash site, but would review photographs and other information collected by local authorities.
Gerlits will also provide the FAA with a statement about the crash, Watson said.
Benton County sheriff ’s Deputy Doug Gay said Gerlits did not suffer life-threatening injuries, and she was alert and responsive.
Roland Herwig, an FAA spokesman, said the agency will determine whether to classify the crash as an incident or accident, the former being less severe.
Herwig could not provide a timeline on when the agency would be able to report what caused Gerlits to attempt an emergency landing.
He would not speculate as to the cause.
Several on site thought that the plane ran out of fuel, which Herwig said could have happened for several reasons.
Gay said he checked both fuel tanks and found little if any fuel present.
However, he said, the problem could have been mechanical, since the engine was recently overhauled.
The plane had recently been prepared for sale. Besides the engine overhaul, it had a new propeller and new paint. The propeller was twisted and the freshly painted fuselage crumpled in several places, with dirt and grass sticking out of the pilot’s side wing.
Bell had been in the process of purchasing the plane from All American Aircraft for six weeks. Gerlits was bringing the plane from San Antonio for a threeday pre-sale inspection.
Attempts to contact Jimmy Garrison, owner of All American Aircraft, were unsuccessful.
The FAA Web site listed Double J Aviation as the owner of the plane, but it had been sold to Garrison’s company five months ago, said James Donald with Double J.
Donald was surprised to learn of the crash, after not having any control over the plane for several months.
“I flew that plane for many years,” he said.
Bell was concerned about Gerlits’ condition, but was also disappointed about the plane. He had been planning to use it to become certified to fly by instruments and was looking forward to the top speed of 180 mph. Looking at the plane, Bell talked about the numerous things that could have gone wrong, although pilots walk away from most “slow and low” crashes, he said. Most often crashes are caused by a pilot’s mistake, he said, but equipment can fail. “It did freak me out a little bit,” he said. “That could have been me out there.”
To contact this reporter: awallworth@arkansasonline. com