Plane crash injures 3at Brookings Regional Airport

BROOKINGS Three people were injured after the aircraft they were in crashed at Brookings Regional Airport on Saturday morning.

Information from the Brookings Police Department indicated that:

• Evan Koep, 32, of Brookings who was piloting the single-engine, four-seat Beechcraft sustained contusions, abrasions and burns. Initially treated at Brookings Health System, he was later airlifted to an Avera hospital in Sioux Falls for further treatment.
• Hayden Kerkart, 29, of Baltic, a front-seat passenger, sustained contusions, abrasions and burns. Initially treated at BHS, he, too, was later airlifted to Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls.
• Caden Walkes, 28, of Brandon, who was a rear-seat passenger, sustained minor contusions and abrasions and is currently being treated at BHS.

Police Chief Michael Drake described the injuries as non-life-threatening in a Saturday afternoon news release. On Tuesday, he said via email that the three were heading to the South Dakota State football game in Bozeman, Montana, when the incident unfolded.

He wrote that the plane crashed approximately an eighth of a mile from the runaway and approximately 75 yards from the southwest gate off of 16th Avenue West. The incident occurred around 9 a.m.

The investigation has determined that the plane was heading to Montana on a personal trip when it struggled to take off. Just after take-off at about an altitude of 200 feet it may have experienced partial engine loss and the pilot turned the aircraft around in an attempt to return to the airport,” Drake wrote. While turning back, the aircraft may have experienced complete engine failure and, according to witnesses, the aircraft nose-dived into the ground.

Koep, Kerkart and Walkes were able to leave the aircraft, which was quickly engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished by firefighters with the Brookings Fire Department.

The aircraft is still at the scene and awaiting investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, Drake wrote. The public is reminded to avoid this area. The scene is secured as this is an active and on-going investigation.

Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].