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NewsFebruary 14, 1993

A report released Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Washington, D.C. says the fatal Feb. 6, 1991 crash of a private airplane west of Dutchtown was due to pilot error and poor weather conditions. The crash of the single-engine Piper Cherokee claimed the life of the pilot, and lone occupant, Perryville City Alderman Robert V. ...

A report released Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Washington, D.C. says the fatal Feb. 6, 1991 crash of a private airplane west of Dutchtown was due to pilot error and poor weather conditions.

The crash of the single-engine Piper Cherokee claimed the life of the pilot, and lone occupant, Perryville City Alderman Robert V. Pirrie, 52. Pirrie was on an instrument flight from Columbia to the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport after he was forced to divert from the Perryville airport because of bad weather.

The plane went down at about 4:45 p.m., in a fog-shrouded field, about three miles west of Dutchtown. The crash occurred as Pirrie was preparing to make an instrument landing (ILS) approach to runway 10 at the airport.

The "probable cause" report, the final of three reports issued by the NTSB, said the probable cause of the crash was, "The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane in instrument meteorological conditions, and the pilot exceeding the design stress limits of the airplane during the loss of control."

NTSB spokesman, Mike Benson, said release of this final report on the crash was delayed because of a changeover to a new computer system at the NTSB headquarters in Washington. Benson noted in 1992, the NTSB investigated more than 2,000 accidents involving different modes of transportation. A probable cause is prepared on each accident by a staff of 350 persons.

In addition to investigating and reporting on all serious accidents that involve commercial scheduled and non-scheduled, air taxi service and private aviation, Benson said the board also investigates and issues reports of probable cause on all major accidents involving other modes of transportation, including freight and passenger trains, highways (trucks and buses), waterways, and pipelines.

The report said a contributing factor in the crash was the existing weather conditions at the time. At the time of the crash, there was a 300-foot overcast ceiling at the airport and runway visibility of 2 miles.

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In an earlier factual report released by the NTSB in April 1992, investigators the plane "broke up" in mid-air. According to the report, both wings of airplane were twisted from the fuselage while the plane was inflight.

The probable cause report released on Friday confirms an earlier suggestion of Cape Girardeau Airport manager and pilot Mark Seesing, that the aircraft was subjected to severe stress just before the crash. Seesing visited the crash site the following day and saw the wreckage of the wings, which were spread over 600 feet from the main wreckage site.

In an April 30, 1992 interview, Seesing said after reading the factual report, it appeared Pirrie got the airplane into an unusual altitude while attempting to make a left turn to intercept the "Dutch" localizer beacon for runway 10, located west of Dutchtown.

Seesing said for whatever reason, Pirrie apparently overshot the electronic localizer beacon, and was attempting to turn back to intercept the beacon for an ILS approach to runway 10 when the airplane broke up in mid-air.

"He must have overbanked the aircraft. He could have had some vertigo or some other special disorientation and got the aircraft into a tight turn or something, and over-stressed the aircraft," Seesing speculated.

According to the NTSB factual report, the wings were ripped from the fuselage while the aircraft was traveling at over 120 mph. The plane's magnetic compass indicated the craft was on a heading of 330 degrees in a northwesterly direction when the crash occurred, indicating the airplane was headed north to intercept the Dutch localizer.

Pirrie, who had been flying for about 10 years, operated a land survey company and a title insurance firm in Perryville. He had been a Ward 2 alderman since 1986. At the time of his death, Pirrie was president of the board of alderman.

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