7 Yr Old Girl Walks Away From Fatal Plane Crash

03 Jan, 2015

A 7-year-old girl who survived a plane crash in Kentucky that killed her parents and two other family members has been released from the hospital, an official said Saturday.

Kentucky State Police Sgt. Dean Patterson also said Federal Aviation Administration officials have arrived at the scene to try to determine why the small Piper PA-34 crashed as it was flying over in rural southwestern Kentucky early Friday evening.

The plane had reported engine trouble and lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly before the 5:55 p.m. CST crash, authorities said. About a half hour later, a man called 911 and told dispatchers that a 7-year-old girl had walked to his home in Kuttawa, Kentucky and said she had been involved in a plane crash.

The girl had walked nearly 1 mile, through thick piles of brush, in temperatures that were less than 40 degrees before reaching the home of 71-year-old Larry Wilkins.

“I come to the door and there’s a little girl, 7 years old, bloody nose, bloody arms, bloody legs, one sock, no shoes, crying,” Wilkins told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday. “She told me that her mom and dad were dead, and she had been in a plane crash and the plane was upside down.”

The girl was treated at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, Kentucky and released early Saturday, Patterson said.

“This girl came out of the wreckage herself and found the closest residence and reported the plane crash,” Patterson said. “It’s a miracle in a sense that she survived it, but it’s tragic that four others didn’t.”

Patterson said the girl was the daughter of the two adults who died in the crash, Marty Gutzler, 48; and his wife, Kimberly Gutzler, 46. Also killed in the crash were the girl’s sister, Piper Gutzler, 9; and a cousin, Sierra Wilder, 14. All were from Nashville, Illinois. The bodies have been recovered and sent to Louisville for autopsies.

AP

Image

Mentioned In This Post: