Plane bound for St. Louis crashes; two passengers believed dead
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A small private airplane that was bound for St. Louis Downtown Airport crashed Sunday evening into a Belleville home several miles short of the runway. Two people were believed to have been on board the plane. There were no survivors, according to authorities.
According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch report on this St. Louis area plane crash, the plane had left from Vero Beach, Fla. and was scheduled to land at St. Louis Downtown Airport around 6:30 p.m. The plane was a single-engine Piper Meridian based at Downtown Airport and registered to a Clayton company, according to the Post Dispatch.
The plane began to dive and witness reports state that the plane was making whining noises as it dove towards the home of John and Mary Elliott in the Aero Estates development. Thankfully, nobody was home at the time of the crash.
The plane crashed into a hanger attached to the home that housed two planes and an antique car. Flames quickly spread from the hangar to the house, which was completely destroyed.
Names of the victims have not yet been released.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash. It was raining and foggy at the time, though no indication has been made that weather contributed to the fatal plane crash.
In 2007, there was a Missouri plane crash also involving a Piper Meridian. In that incident, the wings separated from the body of the plane in mid-air causing the plane to crash. The Piper Meridian has also been the target of concerns over the nose landing gear which reportedly caused several planes to turn hard uncontrollably upon landing.
