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'Miracle' girl, 7, walks away from Kentucky plane crash that killed parents and everyone else on board 'Miracle' girl, 7, walks away from Kentucky plane crash that killed parents and everyone else on board
(about 3 hours later)
A seven-year-old girl has walked away from a plane crash that killed her parents and everyone else on board in the US. A “brave little girl” who survived a plane crash in Kentucky that killed four people walked barefoot and bloody to a nearby house to raise the alarm.
The child, who has not been named, managed to climb out the wreckage of the light aircraft and knock on a stranger’s door in Kentucky to raise the alarm. The injured seven-year-old, who was in a state of shock, knocked on the door of Larry Wilkins, 71, in Buckberry Trail, Lyon County on Friday evening about half an hour after the plane went down.
She was disorientated and crying, police said, but did not have serious injuries. “She was bleeding pretty bad, her legs were bleeding, her face had a bloody nose. She was barefoot, only had one sock on,” Mr Wilkins told NBC News.
The Piper PA-34 had gone down near Kentucky Lake, a popular tourist attraction, after reporting engine trouble and losing contact with air traffic controllers at about 5.55pm local time yesterday (11.55pm GMT), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. “She told me that her mom and her dad were dead, and she was in a plane crash, and the plane was upside down. She asked if she could stay here.
About half an hour later, a man in Lyon County called police and told them that the girl had walked to his home and said she had been involved in a plane crash. “I said, ‘Honey, what can I do for you?’ I got a wash cloth and cleaned her up. The little girl was so shook up we couldn’t understand much of what she said.
Larry Wilkins, 71, told NBC when he answered his door on Friday night there was a “little girl” standing there barefooted who was “bleeding pretty badly”. “I felt so sorry for her, tears come to my eyes. Seven years old. Brave little girl.”
“She told me that her mum and her dad were dead, and she was in a plane crash, and the plane was upside down,” he said. He called the emergency services and the girl was taken to hospital and later released.
“She asked if she could stay here. I got a wash cloth and cleaned her up. And of course called 911,” he added. “I felt so sorry for her, tears come to my eyes. Brave little girl.” After a two-hour search that involved state police, the sheriff’s officers and fire and rescue units, the wreckage of a Piper PA-34 aircraft and the bodies of four people were found in a remote, heavily wooded area near Buckberry Trail. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Kentucky State Police named those killed in the crash as Marty Gutzler, 49, Kimberly Gutzler, 45, their nine-year-old daughter, Piper Gutzler and Piper's 14-year-old cousin, Sierra Walder. Marty Gutzler, 48, Kimberly Gutzler, 46, their daughter Piper Gutzler, nine, and Piper’s cousin Sierra Walder, 14, all from Nashville, Illinois, were killed in the crash, Kentucky State Police said. The name of the seven-year-old was not released, in accordance with the wishes of family.
The family are believed to have been returning home after celebrating New Year in Key West, Florida. Mr Gutzler had posted pictures of the celebrations on Facebook along with photos from the flight there, showing the children in the plane's rear seats. “It’s a miracle in a sense that she survived it, but it’s tragic that four others didn’t,” Sergeant Dean Patterson of Kentucky State Police said.
“This girl came out of the wreckage herself and found the closest residence and reported the plane crash,” said Sergeant Dean Patterson of Kentucky State Police. “It's a miracle in a sense that she survived it, but it's tragic that four others didn't.” Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials said the light plane had reported engine trouble then lost contact with air traffic controllers as it was flying over south-western Kentucky shortly before 6pm on Friday. The FAA said the plane had taken off from Tallahassee, in Florida, and had been heading for Mount Vernon, Illinois.
Police have not confirmed the girl's relationship to the crash victims. Sergeant Patterson said the girl told him the plane had taken off from Key West in Florida, rather than Tallahassee. He added that investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were on their way to the scene, joining FAA officials already there.
She was taken to hospital for treatment as authorities launched a search for the plane. It was found about two hours later in a heavily-wooded area near the lake, with the four bodies of the pilot and three passengers inside. The pastor of a church near the crash site said the area was known for rough terrain and that the conditions on Friday were wet due to the persistent rain.
A spokesperson for the FAA said the aircraft had taken off from Tallahassee Regional Airport, Florida, and was bound for Mount Vernon, Illinois. “That area is very rough and hilly, very heavily forested,” said the Rev Dean Weber of the Chestnut Oak United Methodist Church in Kuttawa, Kentucky.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Additional reporting by AP