The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report Monday of the plane crash that claimed the lives of two Oklahoma State U. basketball coaches.
The certified flight instructor pilot and three passengers were killed after a Piper PA-28-180 single-engine plane crashed near Perryville, Ark., at 4:10 p.m. Nov. 17, according to the report. OSU women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke, assistant coach Miranda Serna, Olin Branstetter and wife Paula were killed.
Branstetter, 82, and Paula, 79, were certified pilots, completing a record trip to the Magnetic North Pole in 1984 with the Piper aircraft, according to a newsletter from the OSU College of Education. Branstetter was piloting the plane at the time of the crash.
The aircraft is listed on the report as a general aviation plane for personal use.
Employees at Stillwater Municipal Airport reported the airplane landed at 2:15 p.m., picked up two passengers and departed for Little Rock, Ark.
“The airplane did not receive any services (at Stillwater’s airport),” the report said. “Radar data showed the airplane level at 7,000 feet mean sea level on a southeasterly heading. At 4:10 p.m., the airplane entered a right turn and began descending. The airplane disappeared from the radar shortly after. There were no reported air traffic control communications with the airplane. ”
The right wing leading edge contacted the ground first. An impact crater about 10 feet in diameter and 3.5 feet in depth contained most of the airplane from view, according to the report.
Witnesses reported that the plane was making turns while flying at a low altitude before entering a steep nose-low attitude, causing the crash. The patterns of the ground scars on-site are consistent with the plane being in a steep nose-low position at the time of the crash, according to the report.
The weather at the time was clear, with a wind speed of three knots and full visibility. The NTSB has ruled out weather as a cause of the accident, Investigator-in-Charge Jason Aguilera said.