60-year-old pilot James Arnold and his 36-year-old wife, Sara Spurlin Arnold, both from Fayetteville (AR), were killed Wednesday afternoon in their Cessna 441, when it into a field southeast of Winfield (KS). They were on their way from Arkansas to the Colorado resorts of Vail and Beaver Creek, to attend medical conferences, according to research performed by the Wichita Eagle.

Dr. Arnold, a former Navy flight surgeon and world-famous knee surgeon, who founded and owned the Arnold Knee Clinic, had reportedly told a nurse there that he planned to fly the turboprop twin above the totally lousy weather. The ice seemed to prove too much to overcome with just the will to fly.

Since "the pilot requested no-gyro vectors," there is a suspected instrument problem for the NTSB to check out, as well.

"It just went straight down," said Dolly Bonfy, quoted in the Wichita (KS) paper, who saw the crash from her patio door. "Then a huge explosion... I couldn't imagine that an airplane would be out in this lousy weather," she told the paper, which noted that ice had knocked out power at their house a few hours earlier.

The couple had two boys, aged 5 and 7. James Arnold had two grown children, as well, one of whom is an orthopedic surgeon. The Arnolds owned the twin Cessna, one of their two airplanes.

** Report created 01/31/2002 Record 3 **

IDENTIFICATION

Regis#: 441AR Make/Model: C441 Description: 441 Conquest, Conquest 2

Date: 01/30/2002 Time: 2010

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N

Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION

City: ARKANSAS CITY State: KS Country: US

DESCRIPTION

ACFT ADVISED OF LOSS OF AUTOPILOT IN IMC AND THE PILOT REQUESTED NO-GYRO VECTORS TO VMC, THE ACFT THEN DESCENDED RAPIDLY UNTIL RADAR/RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WERE LOST, THE ACFT CRASHED AND WAS DESTROYED, THE 2 POB SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES, OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ARE UNKNOWN, ARKANSAS CITY, KS.

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 2

# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

# Pass: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: KWLD 1954Z AUTO 00000KT 4SM FZRA BR BKN010 OVC013 M01/M02 A3001

OTHER DATA

Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: General Aviation Departed: SPRINGDALE, AR Dep Date: 01/30/2002 Dep. Time:

Destination: RIFLE, CO Flt Plan: IFR Wx Briefing: U

Last Radio Cont: 70 SE ICT

Last Clearance: ALT ASSIGN FL270B280 FAA FSDO: KANSAS CITY, MO (CE05) Entry date: 01/31/2002