Flight was Part 91 repositioning, two crew dead, no pax or
folks on ground hurt
A Pinnacle Airlines
Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jet operated for Northwest Airlink, the
regional arm of Northwest Airlines, crashed into a Missouri
residential area on Thursday evening. The aircraft was on a Part 91
repositioning flight from Arkansas to Minnesota. The two crew are
reported dead. There were no passengers on the flight, and no one
on the ground has been reported injured.
The aircraft (file photo, below) crashed into a neighborhood on
the east side of Jefferson City (MO) just after 2200, near Eastland
Avenue, according to Associated Press reports. It plowed into two
garages, but did not hit any of the houses. Jefferson City
Police Capt. Michael Smith said witnesses reported they saw the
aircraft on fire shortly before it crashed.
"I am greatly saddened by the loss of our crew," said Philip
Trenary, chief executive of Pinnacle Airlines. "My prayers and the
prayers of all Pinnacle people are with their family and loved
ones." In a press release issued by the airline, the pilots were
identified as Captain Jesse Rhodes and First Officer Richard Peter
Cesarz. Captain Rhodes joined Pinnacle in February 2003.
Previously, he had been a Captain at another regional airline and
had accumulated over 6,700 flight hours. First Officer Cesarz
joined Pinnacle in June 2004.
Local resident John Baysinger told the News Tribune in Jefferson
City the aircraft came down in his back yard. "When I looked
outside the window, the whole back of my house was on fire," he
said. Another resident, Marc Powers, also reported hearing the
crash about eight blocks down from Baysinger's home. "There was a
loud crash and that was followed by numerous pops, like someone was
discharging a firearm," said Powers. When he went to see what had
made the noise, he saw the wreck and noticed the fuselage separated
from the cockpit.
Yet another resident, Lesley Ammikus, saw the aircraft before it
went down. "I saw it right at the trees. I thought, `That's way too
loud and too low,' and it just hit," Ammikus said. "It went boom
when it hit."
The CRJ-200 can seat 52 pax, is 87 feet long, 20 feet high and
has a wingspan of more than 69 feet. At press time the NTSB was
investigating the accident.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 8396A
Make/Model: CL6 Description:
BOMBARDIER CL-600-2B19
Date: 10/14/2004 Time: 0316
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Fatal Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: JEFFERSON
CITY
State: MO Country: US
DESCRIPTION
PINNACLE AIRLINES, FLG3701, BOMBARDIER CL600 ACFT, CRASHED
UNDER UNKNOWN
CIRCUMSTANCES, THE TWO PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED
AND THE
AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED, JEFFERSON CITY, MO
INJURY DATA Total
Fatal: 2
# Crew: 2 Fat:
2 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: NOT
REPORTED
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase:
Unknown Operation: General
Aviation
Departed: LITTLE ROCK,
AR
Dep Date: Dep.
Time:
Destination: MINNEAPOLIS,
MN Flt Plan:
IFR Wx
Briefing: U
Last Radio Cont: 3 SOUTH OF JEFFERSON CITY
Last Clearance: UNK
FAA FSDO: KANSAS CITY, MO
(CE05)
Entry date: 10/15/2004