The Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers, who responded to Sunday’s plane crash in Guthrie, says the pilot, father and grandfather appears he saved two lives with his actions.
Pilot Darrell Allen Smittle, 62, his 42-year-old son Darrell Stewart Smittle and 11-year-old grandson Joshua Smittle were returning from a fishing trip in Arkansas when the plane went down in Jerry and Lahonda Ball’s yard around 3:30 p.m.
The senior Smittle was pronounced dead on the scene, but his son and grandson are expected to recover.
The Smittle family says troopers who responded to the wreckage told them it appeared Darrell Allen Smittle turned the plane to take the direct impact on himself, saving his son and grandson.
NTSB is on the scene to determine the cause. The 11-year-old boy told troopers the plane needed gas. The plane could be removed as early as Monday.
For the complete story by KWTV’s Jamie Oberg please visit this page.
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