Services are set for three southern Illinois family members and another relative killed in a Kentucky plane crash.
Forty-eight-year-old Marty Gutzler, his 46-year-old wife Kimberly and their 9-year-old daughter Piper died at the scene of the crash of the small plane on Friday. A 14-year-old cousin of Piper's, Sierra Wilder, also died.
The Gutzlers' other daughter, 7-year-old Sailor, crawled from the wreckage and managed to walk roughly a mile while injured and barefoot to a home, telling the resident of the crash.
Campagna Funeral Home in the Gutzlers' hometown of Nashville, Illinois, says private funeral services for the Gutzlers will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Nashville.
Wilder's services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the same funeral Home.
PREVIOUS STORY:
A fund has been established to benefit a 7-year-old southern Illinois girl who survived a Kentucky plane crash that killed her parents, a sister and a cousin.
Sailor Gutzler walked roughly a mile to a house for help after managing to escape the wreckage of the plane that crashed Friday.
Federal aviation officials are investigating what caused the crash that killed Marty Gutzler, wife Kim Gutzler, their 9-year-old daughter, Piper Gutzler, and a cousin of the girls, 14-year-old Sierra Wilder.
A spokesman for the family, Kent Plotner, says donations to Sailor Gutzler's behalf are being accepted on the website www.sailorgutzlerfund.com.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board began their investigation Sunday into the tragic small plane crash near Lake Barkley that claimed the lives of a Nashville family.
Kentucky State Police say four people were killed when their twin-engine Piper PA-34 airplane crashed Friday night near Eddyville, Kentucky. The victims are identified as 49-year old Marty Gutzler, his wife 45-year old Kimberly Gutzler, a daughter 9-year old Piper Gutzler, and a cousin 14-year old Sierra Wilder.
Kentucky State Police report a fifth person on the small plane survived. Police say 7-year old Sailor Gutzler received minor injuries and walked away from the crash site nearly a quarter mile to a home and told the residents about the crash. The FAA says the plane reported engine trouble and lost contact with air traffic controllers as it was flying over the southwestern part of Kentucky late Friday afternoon. Authorities say it was shortly after that when a local resident called 911 and reported the downed plane about 6:30pm.
Marty Gutzler was a former airline pilot and worked for his family business Gutzler’s Furniture in Nashville. Gutzler’s Facebook page indicated the family had celebrated New Year’s Eve in Florida. KMOX reports that Gutzler frequently flew out of Mt. Vernon’s Outland Airport. Kentucky State Police say the plane was enroute from Key West, Florida to Mt. Vernon.
The Piper’s wreckage was found about 9:30pm Friday in a wooded area. The plane was found upside down. Federal transportation authorities are investigating.
