At 19:33 central time, a Cessna 335 carrying Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan crashed near Hillsboro. The governor, also a candidate for U.S. Senate, was killed, along with the pilot and another passenger. The flight had departed Cahokia, Ill., at 19:15 CDT on an IFR flight to New Madrid, Mo. The pilot told controllers he was having problems with the primary attitude indicator and he requested a climb to a higher altitude. The pilot was issued a climb to 4,000 feet. The pilot then reported that the primary attitude indicator was not reading properly and he was trying to fly off of the copilots. The pilot then stated he wanted to divert to Jefferson City, where the weather was better. The airplane was in the process of diverting when the accident occurred. The last radar contact with the airplane was at 19:31:55 at an altitude of 3,900 feet above mean sea level.
Oct. 16, Hillsboro, Mo. / Cessna 335
At 19:33 central time, a Cessna 335 carrying Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan crashed near Hillsboro. The governor, also a candidate for U.S. Senate, was killed, along with the pilot and another passenger. The flight had departed Cahokia, Ill., at 19:15 CDT on an IFR flight to New Madrid, Mo. The pilot told controllers he was having problems with the primary attitude indicator and he requested a climb to a higher altitude. The pilot was issued a climb to 4,000 feet. The pilot then reported that the primary attitude indicator was not reading properly and he was trying to fly off of the copilots. The pilot then stated he wanted to divert to Jefferson City, where the weather was better. The airpla...
Key Takeaways:
- Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, his pilot, and another passenger died when their Cessna 335 crashed near Hillsboro at 19:33 CDT.
- Shortly after departing, the pilot reported problems with the primary attitude indicator and was attempting to fly using the copilot's instruments.
- The crash occurred while the aircraft was in the process of diverting to Jefferson City, a request made by the pilot due to the instrument issues and better weather conditions there.
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