TWA Pilot Averts Takeoff Disaster; 2 Die in Cessna

The TWA jet was hurtling down the runway at 80 to 100 m.p.h., just short of takeoff, when the pilot spotted an errant twin-engine plane ahead of him and swerved to avoid a catastrophe.

The MD-80 sheared off the roof of the tiny Cessna, killing both people aboard. But none of the 132 passengers and five crew members on the Denver-bound jetliner was seriously hurt in the accident late Tuesday night.

Airport officials and others were quick to call the TWA pilot a hero Wednesday.

“Picture yourself driving 90 m.p.h. in a car and a guy steps in front of you,” Lambert Airport Director Leonard Griggs said. “It was extraordinarily lucky. Had he hit that airplane head on, we would have had a lot worse than we had.”

TWA officials refused to release the name of the pilot, who is based in St. Louis, pending a federal investigation.

Eight people on board TWA Flight 427 at Lambert St. Louis International Airport suffered minor injuries.

A team from the National Transportation Safety Board examined the wreckage Wednesday, trying to determine why the smaller aircraft had pulled onto the wrong runway.

The weather was clear at the time.

The TWA jet was slightly damaged on its wing, TWA spokesman John McDonald said.

The Cessna Conquest 441 twin-engine turboprop was bound for Iron Mountain, Mich. The plane was registered to Superior Aviation Inc. of Iron Mountain.

The two on board were identified as Ralph Petersen, 55, the pilot, and Donald Hendrickson, 35. the husband of a Superior employee.