By KANDACE MCCOY
and TESA CULLI
MT. VERNON — Two KR aircraft were involved in crashes today as the pilots were attempting to arrive at the annual KR Gathering slated to begin Friday at the Mt. Vernon Outland Airport.
An Indiana man sustained major injuries after his Rand Robinson KR experimental aircraft crashed this morning on a runway at the airport. A second crash happened at about 6:45 p.m. in a field behind the Industrial Park off Illinois Route 37 South, after the pilot started experiencing difficulties with his engine.
This is the sixth year for the gathering, and the first time there has been any problems with pilots landing the homebuilt aircraft.
In the first crash, Myron “Dan” Freeman, of Indianapolis, was in the process of landing the aircraft shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday on Runway 5 when a gust of wind lifted it up, causing it to teeter. The passenger wing hit the ground, causing the crash, witnesses at the scene said. The impact with the ground caused the wing to tuck underneath the aircraft, which skidded about 50 to 60 feet down the runway before coming to a stop on the shoulder of the runway.
“I came out to photograph the landing,” Dave Mullins said, “and as he was coming in he caught some wind underneath and the plane started floundering. The wing tucked underneath after it gouged the grass.”
Freeman was flying in for the fifth annual KR Gathering this weekend held at the airport, said Airport Manager Chris Collins. Collins added Freeman’s plane is one of the oldest participating KR experimental aircrafts. Mullins said the plane has logged over 2200 hours of flight time.
“Unfortunately landing mishaps do happen,” Collins said, “I just hope he’s OK.”
Freeman was transferred to a St. Louis Hospital, according to officials.
The National Transportation Safety Board has authorized the aircraft to be removed off the runway, Collins said, and an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration into the incident continues, as law requires.
The second crash happened just before 7 p.m., when the pilot of the aircraft, who has not been identified, radioed to the airport that he was not going to be able to make it to the runway.
According to Collins, Air Evac was already in the air when the distress call came in and the pilot notified the airport he was trying to execute a controlled landing in a field. Collins said the helicopter crew spotted the pilot while he was still in the air and was the first on scene to render assistance.
Witnesses to the crash reported the engine of the plane was not running when it went down. The plane was going over the southern portion of the city from the west, circled around the field and went down. It ended up in a ravine running through a bean field.
Collins said the FAA had been notified of the second crash and an investigation is underway.
The KR aircraft were designed by Kend Rand and Stu Robinson in 1972. The two engineers, who were working for McDonald Aircraft in California when they met, pioneered a foam and fiberglass composite construction method that is now the standard in homebuilt, commercial and military aircraft, according to information from Rand Robinson Aviation. The strength to weight ratio of the construction and the composite material make it easy to shape compound curves that produce fast, clean surfaces that a novice aircraft builder can master, and the aviation company states the KR is lightweight and trailerable.
The KR Gathering is still scheduled to start this morning and will conclude with a program banquet on Saturday evening.
