The Boone County Sheriff’s Department says the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators have arrived at the scene of Tuesday afternoon’s deadly plane crash near Hartsburg. Boone County Sheriff’s Captain Brian Leer says one person has been killed in the crash, which happened at about 12:10 pm. Captain Leer tells 939 the Eagle that a witness who saw the crash says the plane came apart before crashing:
“The initial report said it was an aircraft without at least one or two wings is how they described it, falling from the sky. So we knew from the initial report that it was probably a case where the aircraft had possibly come apart before crashing,” Captain Leer says.
Leer says the plane crashed in a wooded area near Christian School road. He says the crash site is a few miles from busy Highway 63. Captain Leer says there’s a large debris field:
“As far as had a couple of reports from maybe up to or more than a mile from the actual site where there was some debris reported. And so we’re really securing the area, asking the residents if they witnessed anything or if they find any debris or saw any debris fall from the sky in certain areas to let us know,” says Captain Leer.
The NTSB has issued a one-sentence tweet. It reads “NTSB investigating the April 16 crash of a Piper PA-46-350P airplane near Ashland, Missouri.” The Missouri State Highway Patrol is also involved in the investigation.
