Accused Drunk Driver Slams Into Three Aircraft In Wisconsin

By ANN Senior Editor Pete Combs

Bill Wenkman put his three aircraft in a hangar to keep them safe. Never did he dream trouble would find its way inside the structure.

The 82-year old pilot had three aircraft in a hangar at the Baraboo-Wisconsin Dells Airport on Monday when sheriff's deputies say a woman drove her car more across the grass strip -- and right into Wenkman's hangar.

"I'd just left about an hour-and-a-half before," Wenkman told ANN on Tuesday. "The FBO on the field was just closing up when a witness ran in and said he saw someone drive 3,000 feet across the field."

The car launched itself on the 30-degree ramp leading from the tarmac into Wenkman's hangar. "She hit that ramp at 60 miles an hour and went six feet in the air. She completely missed my snowmobile."

But the flying car didn't miss Wentman's aircraft.

"[The car] came to rest on top of the PA-30 fuselage," Wenkman wrote in a statement to ANN. "With the momentum it then rolled forward and with the car on top the tail, the nose in the air. The nose wheel hit a scissor lift and both struck the left wing of the PA-24, which moved the wing an estimated 3 inches forward and dented the fuselage forward of the wing... at the root.

"The right wing of the PA-30 struck the left horizontal stabilator of the PA24, destroying it," Wenkman continued. "The right wing tip then became embedded in the vertical fin and the rudder. The PA-24 then moved forward, its nose bowl striking the aileron of my other 1966 PA-30."

A fourth airplane in the hangar, a Cessna 172 belonging to Wenkman's son, wasn't damaged in the incident.

As for the driver of the 1999 Plymouth Voyager, 53-year old Mary Everly of Lyndon Station, Wenkman said she received a minor cut on her head.

"When we got there she was unconscious," said Delton Fire Chief Andy Schultz, in an interview with the Baraboo (WI) News Republic. Schultz said Everly didn't appear to have been seriously hurt.

Wenkman said the damage to all three aircraft came to $158,000. Everly, he said, only had $100,000 worth of insurance. Wenkman said, if there's any good news there, it's that he'll get to keep the remains of all three aircraft.

The 82-year old pilot said he's taking his FAA Airframe and Powerplant exam next week. It sounds like he's going to be his own best customer.

FMI: www.faa.gov