Commuter Jet Crashes In Missouri; NTSB Updates Pinnacle Details

A twin-engine turboprop carrying two crew members and 13 passengers crashed Tuesday night in Kirksville, Mo. The British Aerospace Jetstream 32, operating as American Connection Flight 5966, hit trees while making a visual approach to the Kirksville Regional Airport at about 7:45 p.m. local time, crashed, and burned on impact. The aircraft’s wings apparently were broken off by contact with the trees, NBC News reported last night. The flight originated in St. Louis. Yesterday, NTSB investigators reported two survivors. Both of the airplane’s data recorders were also found. The FAA said the crew was last heard from several minutes before the crash, and gave no indication of trouble. Also yesterday, the NTSB released additional details from its investigation into the Pinnacle Airlines crash that killed two crewmen last Thursday.

A twin-engine turboprop carrying two crew members and 13 passengers crashed Tuesday night in Kirksville, Mo. The British Aerospace Jetstream 32, operating as American Connection Flight 5966, hit trees while making a visual approach to the Kirksville Regional Airport at about 7:45 p.m. local time, crashed, and burned on impact. The aircraft's wings apparently were broken off by contact with the trees, NBC News reported last night. The flight originated in St. Louis. Yesterday, NTSB investigators reported two survivors. Both of the airplane's data recorders were also found. The FAA said the crew was last heard from several minutes before the crash, and gave no indication of trouble. Also yesterday, the NTSB released additional details from its investigation into the Pinnacle Airlines crash that killed two crewmen last Thursday. While examining the engines, the NTSB noted there was some thermal damage to the No. 2 engine; that will be further looked at during a teardown in Lynn, Mass. Since the accident, Pinnacle Airlines has placed a new company altitude restriction on the flight ceiling for their CL600-2B19s of 37,000 feet. In Tuesday's accident at Kirksville, weather at the time was reported as light rain with some thunderstorms in the area. The aircraft was owned and operated by Corporate Airlines of Smyrna, Tenn.