A 7-year-old girl walked away from a small-plane crash Friday that killed four people, including two children, in southwest Kentucky, according to authorities.
The state police said a Lyon County resident called the police after the girl showed up at his home in Suwanee, about a two-hour drive southwest of Louisville, saying that she had survived a plane crash.
The girl, who was not immediately identified, was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, according to the authorities.
Search crews found the crash site a few hours later in a wooded area and discovered the bodies of the pilot and three passengers among the wreckage, according to the state police.
The authorities identified the victims as the girl's parents, Marty Gutzler, 49, and Kimberly Gutzler, 45. Her 9-year-old sister, Piper Gutzler, and Sierra Wilder, a 14-year-old cousin who was the girls' baby sitter, were also killed in the crash, said Sgt. Dean Patterson, a spokesman for the state police.
The state police said the family was from Nashville, Illinois, and officials withheld the surviving child's name at her relatives' request.
The plane, a twin-engine Piper PA-34-200T, lost contact with air traffic controllers in Memphis, Tennessee, as it was flying over Marshall County, which borders Lyon County, around 5:55 p.m. Central time, according to the state police. The pilot had reported engine problems, and the police received a report of a plane down at 6:30 p.m.
The plane took off from Key West, Florida, earlier Friday and had stopped in Tallahassee on its way to Mount Vernon, Illinois, according to the authorities.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were expected to arrive at the crash site Saturday, according to state police.
© 2015, The New York Times News Service