On November 17, 2011,

Kurt Budke Kurt John Budke (June 3, 1961 – November 17, 2011) was an American college basketball coach. Budke was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. His final coaching job was as the head coach for the Oklahoma State Cowgirls baske ...

, head coach of Oklahoma State University's women's basketball team, died when the

Piper Cherokee The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

light aircraft he was traveling in crashed near

Perryville, Arkansas Perryville is a city in and the county seat of Perry County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,460 at the 2010 census, an increase of just two persons from 2000. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Me ...

, killing all four people on board. The airplane was piloted by former Oklahoma State Senator

Olin Branstetter Olin Richard Branstetter (June 30, 1929 – November 17, 2011) was an American businessman and politician. Branstetter was born in Harmon, Oklahoma and grew up in Arnett, Oklahoma. He graduated from Oklahoma State University (OSU) with a degree ...

. The subsequent investigation concluded that the pilot lost control of the aircraft, but the cause of the loss of control was undetermined. It was the second plane crash in 10 years to involve an Oklahoma State basketball team, after the 2001 accident in which two players on the men's team, six staff, and both pilots lost their lives.

Background

, an 82-year-old former Oklahoma State graduate and contributor to the university, was a certified commercial pilot with over 2,200 flight hours logged, and was the owner of N7746W, a single-engine, four-seat Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee built in 1964. The aircraft had accumulated 5,800 hours of flight, and its last annual inspection was completed a week before the accident. On November 17, 2011, Branstetter was flying head coach

and assistant coach Miranda Serna on a 'donor flight' from Stillwater, Oklahoma, to

North Little Rock North Little Rock (often abbreviated "NLR") is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States. Located on the north side of the Arkansas River, it is the twin city of Little Rock. In the late nineteenth century, it was annexed by Little Ro ...

, Arkansas, to scout two prospective high school recruits. On board was also Branstetter's wife, Paula, 79, a certified private pilot. On the accident flight, she was seated in the rear with Serna, while Budke sat on the front next to the pilot.

Accident

The PA-28 arrived at

Stillwater Regional Airport Stillwater Regional Airport is in Payne County, Oklahoma, United States, three miles (4.8 km) northwest of Stillwater. History After World War II the airfield was one of six locations in the nation that stored surplus military aircraft; ...

at around 13:45. After picking up Budke and Serna, it took off half an hour later for North Little Rock. The weather was good, and no meteorological hazards were forecasted along the planned route. About two hours after departure, radar data showed the airplane flying level at 7,000 feet over the

Ouachita National Forest The Ouachita National Forest is a vast congressionally-designated United States National Forest, National Forest that lies in the western portion of Arkansas and portions of extreme-eastern Oklahoma, USA. History The Ouachita National Forest is ...

, Arkansas, on a south-easterly heading. At 16:10, the airplane entered a right turn and started descending, disappearing from radar shortly after. There were no communications between the airplane and

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

. Hunters on the ground near the accident site reported seeing the airplane flying at a low altitude while making turns, before nosediving into a heavily wooded area. They then alerted emergency services. The wreckage of N7746W was found mostly contained in an impact crater about 10 feet in diameter and 3.5 feet deep. Ground scars and witness marks on nearby trees indicated that the airplane had hit the ground with a 50° to 60° nose-down attitude.

Investigation

The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

(NTSB) investigated the crash and released its report in February 2013. It concluded that Branstetter had lost control of the aircraft, although the reason for the loss of control could not be determined. The investigators did not find any pre-impact anomalies with the engine or airframe that would have precluded normal operation of the aircraft. No

flight recorders A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...

were installed on board, as they were not required. Weather was also ruled out as a factor. The condition of the pilot's remains did not allow for identification of any medical conditions that may have contributed to the crash. It was not possible to perform forensic toxicology tests to detect

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...

nor

cyanide In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This a ...

poisoning. However, tests for

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

and drugs returned negative.

Aftermath

Oklahoma State students, players, and staff wore ribbons with the number 4 and the victims' initials in remembrance. A memorial was set up inside the

Gallagher-Iba Arena Gallagher-Iba Arena, also known as ''"The Rowdiest Arena in the Country"'' and ''"The Madison Square Garden of the Plains”'', is the basketball and wrestling venue at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. Originally ...

, Oklahoma State's basketball venue, bearing semblance to those ribbons. Assistant coach

Jim Littell James Alan Littell (born September 28, 1955) is a former head coach of the Oklahoma State University women's basketball team. He is currently an assistant coach for the Wichita State. Littell spent 14 seasons as the head coach at Seward County ...

was named Cowgirls' interim head coach and the team's following two games were canceled. After the 2001 accident, the university had introduced rules to prevent players from traveling on single-engine planes. Following Budke's death, OSU expanded the rule to include coaches and staff, also mandating that pilots and aircraft be reviewed by an aviation consultant. The family of Budke received

workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

from the university, while the families of both coaches reached a settlement with the estate of the pilot and his wife in July 2014.

References

External links