HOLLAND, Ohio -- A Burlington Air Express cargo jet flying from Seattle crashed in a field on its third approach to an Ohio airport during a foggy rain early Saturday, killing all four people aboard the modified DC-8.
Seven rescue workers were sent to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, and area residents were affected by fumes from the crash.
Flight 805 was on its third instrument approach to Toledo Express Airport when it crashed in a field 2 miles north at 3:27 a.m., loaded with a cargo of aircraft parts, printed material, computer hardware, and mineral spirits.
'I heard an explosion. It shook the whole house,' said Brian Butler, who lives about a mile from the crash site. 'It looked like the plane went through a shredder.'
Glen Beecher, Burlington's senior vice president of air operations, said the ill-fated plane was the same aircraft involved in a mishap Nov. 13, when the jet had to make an emergency landing because a cargo door came open in flight. Beecher said repairs were made in Macon, Ga., and the plane was returned to service two weeks later.
He said the DC-8-63 was operated by Air Transport International of Little Rock, Ark., and piloted by Capt. Harry Baker of Orange Park, Fla.
Its first officer was Tim Hupp of Fairborn, Ohio, and the flight engineer was Jose Montalbo of Ypsilanti, Mich. A pilot for Buffalo Airways, Ramon Papel of Washington state, had hitched a ride on the plane. His hometown was not inmediately available, Beecher said.
Buffalo also flies cargo for Burlington.
Jim McCue, the director of the Toledo airport, speculated that winds may have been responsible for Saturday's crash. Winds on the ground were clocked around 10 mph and at 40 mph in the air. Visibility was 2 miles in the rain and fog.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate what caused the crash of the Seatle-to-Toledo flight.
'We have the flight data and voice recorder in our possession. It's in good repair,' McCue said.
The DC-8-63 can carry a payload of 90,000 pounds, but Beecher said the plane Saturday was loaded with about 53,000 pounds of cargo.
Air Transport International leased the plane from Aero Leasing of Miami. Beecher said it was constructed in 1968. He said there was no immediate indication whether its age or maintenance record was a factor in the crash.
No one on the ground was hurt by the crash itself.
'We were quiet relieved it was in a very open, unpopulated area, a field,' McCue said.
The crash site covered a 2-block area and left few large pieces remaining.
'The initial impact appears to be at the tree line at edge of an open field,' said Beecher.
A flash fire broke out when the plane crashed. Between 2,000 and 5, 000 gallons of aviation fuel were remaining in the tanks.
Beecher said a 30-gallon container of mineral spirits was part of the load of general cargo picked up from the Seattle and Portland, Wash., area. Some 40 people, including area residents, were initially treated for inhaling burning mineral spirits. Four firefighters and three law enforcement officers were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, a fire official said.
