‘Fortunate event’: Two survive when airplane loses wing in crash at KC Northland airport

Two people were seriously injured when a small plane crashed shortly after takeoff Wednesday morning at the Roosterville Airport in Kansas City’s Northland, a fire department spokesman said.

The pilot and passenger were able to get out of the damaged plane on their own. A person at the airport took them away from the crash in a pickup truck to an area where firefighters and emergency medical crews could treat them, said Jason Spreitzer, a spokesman for the Kansas City Fire Department.

“This is a very fortunate event,” Spreitzer said. “Obviously, pilots train many, many hours. So pilot training and instinct plays a big role in the fact that they walked away from this — pretty amazing on their behalf.”

Initial reports indicate that the plane crashed shortly after taking off about 10:50 a.m., said Sarah Boyd, public relations manager for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, which was the first to respond to the scene.

Firefighters responded to area shortly thereafter. Airport staff directed firefighters to a brush line just south of the airport, at 11009 N.E. 112 Street, which is just outside the city limits of both Liberty and Kansas City.

The plane was upside down in the brush.

“We have high tree lines in the area and the brush line, so the aircraft isn’t easy to spot just from where they were,” Spreitzer said. “It took them a little bit to actually get to the location of the final resting place for the aircraft.”

The airport personnel did “a phenomenal job” getting the location for firefighters so they knew where the wreckage could be found, he said.

Crash investigation ongoing

The aircraft, a 1968 Piper Cherokee, is registered in Bullhead City, Arizona. It’s certificate was issued in February and expires in 2025.

Earlier in the morning, the aircraft was doing touch-and-go landings at the Wheeler Downtown Airport and at the Roosterville Airport, said Joe McBride, a spokesman for the Kansas City Aviation Department.

Witnesses said the plane was taking off and didn’t make altitude and it went through some trees and ended up in the field upside down, he said.

“I was on the scene and saw the aircraft was on its back and there was a wing missing and you could see it in the woods there,” said McBride, who added that the pilot and passenger were lucky.

“The fact that they’re living and in a hospital right now being cared for is very, very good,” he said.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol will investigate the crash alongside federal authorities.

Roosterville is privately owned and is considered a community airport, according to a Greater Kansas City Regional Aviation System Plan by the Mid-America Regional Council.

It primarily supports recreational flying, according to the 2015 report.

There are 65 aircraft, all but two are single-engine airplanes, based at the airport, according to the AirNav website. The airport averages 21 operations a day, based on a 12 month average ending Dec. 31, 2020.