GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol and Guthrie County Sheriff’s office confirmed Saturday the deaths of four people in a Friday night plane crash in rural Guthrie County.
A single-engine plane left Le Mars for Des Moines about 4:15 p.m., according to a statement by Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright. The flight was bound for Osceola.
The sheriff’s office received a phone call shortly after 5 p.m. from Des Moines air traffic control, requesting an emergency landing for the plane after the pilot suffered a heart attack en route, and a student pilot took over the controls of the aircraft.
Guthrie Center Fire and Rescue and Panora Rescue were dispatched to the Guthrie Center Airport for the emergency landing, but the aircraft never arrived at the airport.
The Des Moines air traffic control said it lost radar contact with the aircraft approximately four miles southwest of the Guthrie Center Airport.
Search-and-resuce crews were mobilized about 9 p.m. Friday night, involving numerous public-safety agencies from Guthrie, Dallas, Adair and Carroll counties, but the search was unsuccessful.
About 6:30 a.m. Saturday, a caller reported a crashed plane in a cow pasture southwest of the intersection of 265th Street and Maple Avenue. The plane was identified as the flight originating in Le Mars.
“The plane impacted very hard, and all occupants were deceased at the scene,” said Arganbright. “The deceased crash victims’ identity will not be released until further family notifications have been made.”
He said the vicitms were transported to the Iowa Medical Examiner’s office in Ankeny.
The crash site has been secured pending an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administraion, Arganbright said.
Assisting the Guthrie County Sheriff’s office in the extensive search-and-rescue mission were the Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Adair County Sheriff’s office, Dallas County Sheriff’s office, Carroll County Sheriff’s office, Panora Police Department, Stuart Police Department, Guthrie County Emergency Management, Guthrie Center Fire and Rescue, Panora Fire and Rescue and numerous other law enforcement, fire and rescue agencies.
