Father Watches Sons Die in Pilot’s Celebratory Ride
A father watching one of his sons celebrate winning his pilot’s license by giving a brother an airplane ride saw the single-engine craft clip a utility pole and crash, killing both the men.
The plane made a low pass Tuesday over the house of the brother who was the passenger, hit the pole and nose-dived into the yard. The victims’ father lives next door to the crash site.
The pilot, Fred Owens, 39, of Collinsville, Ill., and his brother, Eric Owens, 34, of Fredericktown, were dead at the scene, said Highway Patrol Sgt. Robert Mouser. The brothers had been airborne only a short time.
Fred Owens had earned his pilot’s license only the day before crashing in the two-seat Cessna 152, said Clint Thorpe, an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.
Federal Aviation Administration investigators examined the wreckage and interviewed witnesses Wednesday in an attempt to determine the exact cause of the crash.
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