No injuries when plane strikes a deer

CAMDENTON, Mo. -- A state lawmaker from suburban St. Louis and his three passengers were uninjured when their private plane struck a deer on a mid-Missouri runway.

State Rep. Jack Jackson, R-Wildwood, was the pilot of the twin-engine Beechcraft Duke. Paul Brown, manager of Jackson's campaign for state auditor, said the plane was moving at about 130 mph, almost takeoff speed, when it struck the deer about 9 p.m. Tuesday at an airport near Camdenton.

Brown told STLtoday.com, the Web site for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that the airplane struck runway lights and skidded down an embankment, but remained upright on its landing gear. On board were Jackson, his wife, Arleen; Brown; and campaign political director Michelle Cote.

Camdenton had been the last of four campaign stops, and the group was about to return to St. Louis.

Jackson was elected to the Missouri House in 2002 and retired a year later as a chief test pilot for Boeing Co. He was a Marine jet pilot in Vietnam and logged more than 5,500 hours in the Harrier jump-jet while working for Boeing.

"Jack is one of the world's great pilots, and he knew what to do," Brown said. "The deer jumped right in front, and we hit it head-on. It was absolutely unreal, but we're all OK."

-- Associated Press