Investigation continues for southern Boone County plane crash

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The NTSB is still investigating the deadly crash that occurred near Hartsburg on Tuesday.

Wade Bates, 58, of Arkansas died in the crash, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Office. Parts of the Piper-PA-46 from the crash in Hartsburg were scattered in multiple directions with some pieces landing in residence's yard.

Pilot and flight instructor Robert Katz told ABC 17 News on Thursday that online flight data shows the plane began descending at 991 feet per minute. A plane's normal decent should be around 700 feet per minute.

"A thousand would be fast. 2700(feet) is really fast and starting to put a lot of stress on the wings, on the tail, etc. when we see 10,000ft per minute now the airplane is breaking up in flight," Katz said. "This breakup of this airplane happened violently, catastrophically and very quickly."

Katz said that the wreckage will be collected and taken to a secure location by the NTSB where it can be spread out on the floor of a hanger. NTSB will then take inventory of what was collected. "They will look for what's missing, and they will, also test everything that they have access to. in particular of interest will be the engine itself that will go back to the manufacturer who has the facilities to tear it down to test all the component parts," said Katz.

ABC 17 News asked Katz what pilots can do when they are in an emergency situation mid-flight and he said it starts by maintaining your aircraft.

"We want to fly an aircraft that is maintained the way the manufacturer says. We need to maintain it no matter what it costs. That's what we want to do, because it's our lives that are at stake here," Katz said. "And it's not just the pilot or the owner. I mean, it's his family, it's his passengers on board, and it's people on the ground whose heads and homes were flying over."

Another plane had to make an emergency landing this week, though it didn't crash. On Wednesday, a small plane had to make an emergency landing in a farmer's field near Moberly after a bird hit the window, causing it to shatter.