50 years after crash, survivors, officer reconnect

PETERS TOWNSHIP (KDKA) – It’s a Christmas 1 household volition ne'er forget, adjacent 50 years later.

On Dec. 25, 1971, the Voshell household decided to alert their single-engine Beechcraft Musketeer to Connellsville, PA from their location successful Dover, Delaware to sojourn family.

The aviator and proprietor of the plane, Willis Voshell, and 2 daughters, Jeri Spiker and Velvet Siegal loaded up Christmas afternoon, on with Jeri’s then-boyfriend, Warren Spiker who was successful the Air Force.

“I was expected to enactment that day. So, I went into enactment and astatine astir noon my brag told maine that due to the fact that it was truthful dilatory that I got the remainder of the time off,” Warren Spiker said. “So, I went retired to sojourn my woman and portion I was there, her dada said, ‘Hey, you privation maine to alert you backmost to spot your folks’ and I said sure.”

After a abbreviated visit, astir 8 p.m., the household headed backmost to Connellsville to alert backmost home.

“We needed substance but since it was Christmas night, everybody had already got location and the substance pit was closed,” Spiker said.

“Dad was like, it’s nary large deal. There was different airport, but not acold distant from takeoff. So, helium said we’d spell there, get substance and past caput home,” Velvet said.

Velvet was 10 years aged astatine the clip and loved flying with her dad.

Jeri was a elder successful precocious school, looking guardant to graduation.

“My dada was loved flying. He had a hobby of flying his backstage plane,” Jeri said.

The household said Willis planned to spell to an airdrome successful Morgantown to substance up the plane, which should person been a 15-minute flight.

“We soon realized that something’s incorrect and helium (Willis) thought, ‘I’m conscionable not seeing the runway’ oregon you cognize due to the fact that helium started talking to the idiosyncratic astatine the airport. And I don’t know, I conjecture the aerial postulation controllers were convinced that we were adjacent them, and they told america to enactment connected the aforesaid people that we were astir there,” Velvet said.

“They kept saying that we should spot runway lights and we were not seeing them and not seeing them,” Jeri said.

The household didn’t recognize they were really headed toward Washington County but knew they were going to tally retired of gas.

“He was telling him however agelong and however overmuch clip helium had near and arsenic it (gas gauge) got little and lower, you know, we recognize it’s gonna beryllium a problem, but I mean, I was 10, truthful successful my mind, I didn’t panic. It was my dad. He was gonna instrumentality attraction of us. It was the religion of a child,” Velvet said.

Velvet said her dada reported to aerial postulation power the level was retired of state and that they would person to onshore it.

“So, we’re looking astatine the road and past each of a abrupt helium saw the parking batch and helium said, ‘Okay, amended yet,’” Velvet said.

The household had spotted the Donaldson Crossroads parking batch which had been bare astatine the clip with nary cars successful the parking batch due to the fact that it was Christmas.

The parking batch was lined with airy poles that were lit up, making a makeshift runway for their landing.

That’s erstwhile they said they ran retired of gas.

“I was calling up mayday, mayday and giving the level fig and saying we are going down. We’re going down. Mayday, mayday,” Warren said.

“All of the sudden, it clicked. I’m like, mayday?! Dad said Mayday! That means we’re going down!” Velvet said.

“As we came into marque our landing, determination was 1 airy rod astatine the extremity that was not lit,” Jeri said. “That caught our close helping and conscionable totaled the plane. It benignant of flip america implicit and totaled the plane.”

THE RESPONSE

On work that nighttime was Officer Scott Patton, a part-time Peters Township constabulary officer. He said helium was the lone serviceman connected work that nighttime owed to it being the holiday.

“Dispatch called me. I was traveling northbound connected way 19 astir successful the Upper St. Clair erstwhile I got the telephone from headquarters. The punctuation from office was, ‘There has been an mishap with a tiny ‘aeroplane’ successful the parking batch down Vitte’s Hardware. Check it out,” Patton said.

Patton said astatine first, helium assumed it had to person been a tiny kid playing with a caller toy, an airplane connected the extremity of a wire.

He said it wasn’t until dispatch called again, that helium realized it was an existent level that had crashed.

“She means a level crash! Why didn’t she accidental a level crashed? I enactment the pedal to the metallic I enactment the sirens connected and each of a sudden, my encephalon is processing what americium I going to spot now? Patton said.

When helium archetypal arrived connected the scene, helium said helium didn’t spot immoderate occurrence oregon debris.

He said it wasn’t until helium turned into Vitte’s Hardware that helium saw a level up connected its chemoreceptor with a helping worn off.

THE CRASH

“Dad said brace yourselves. We were successful the backmost and Jeri pushed my caput down successful her thigh and covered me,” Velvet said. “And each of a sudden, we conscionable boom. Jolted. It was like, what happened?”

“After we yet stopped and she (Velvet) sat up, we some looked astatine each different due to the fact that my dada and Warren were successful the beforehand and they went guardant and deed their heads,” Jeri said. “They conscionable benignant of slumped implicit and you know, humor was everywhere, and Velvet and I retrieve we looked astatine each different and we were like, are they dead? We conscionable didn’t know.”

They each survived.

The household said Willis had kicked unfastened the level doorway and began getting everyone out. Warren had a caput wounded and ran to the roadworthy to get help.

“That’s erstwhile Jeri said, I deliberation I wounded my backmost is broken,” Velvet said.

Patton said helium arrived connected the country and helped them retired of the level and into an ambulance.

50 YEARS LATER

This Christmas is 50 years since the clang happened. Patton said helium decided to effort to find the household aft idiosyncratic connected Facebook posted astir the clang and if anyone remembered it.

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In November, Warren and Jeri Spiker flew into Pittsburgh International Airport to conscionable erstwhile again astatine the clang site.

Velvet and her hubby Andrew Siegel came successful from Dover, Delaware.

“We exchanged greetings and hugs. Because adjacent though we’ve not met each different successful 50 years, we person this long-time connection,” Patton said. “Just remembering and bringing it each backmost to the beforehand again. And I said it was a Christmas occurrence the mode that circumstances got them safely to the crushed without divine intervention.”

“It brings backmost a batch of bully memories and a batch of atrocious memories. But it’s bully to get unneurotic and yet conscionable him nether antithetic circumstances,” Warren said.

The airy rod that the household said they struck that nighttime is inactive near arsenic a stub successful the crushed astatine the Donaldson Crossroads.

“It surprises maine that they person ne'er replaced that,” Warren said.

The household said their lives changed everlastingly aft the crash.

“In the twelvemonth aft the crash, I decided that I was going to instrumentality my backstage pilot’s licence truthful I wouldn’t beryllium astatine the mercy of anybody up determination again,” Warren said. “I would beryllium capable to, you know, fig retired what’s going on, alert the level and onshore the plane.”

“The large alteration for my life? I ne'er loved flying the mode I did before. I mean, I loved it,” Velvet said.

Velvet said she did extremity up flying successful her dad’s level again to get implicit her fears.

“I went up a fewer much times but it conscionable ne'er came back. I was like, no, I cognize what tin hap now,” Velvet said.

“To this day, I person a truly ample lump successful the mediate of my back. That’s noticeable to feel. I haven’t had immoderate occupation with it astatine all,” Jeri said.

“Here’s the biggest of the miracle. They showed maine their household pictures. Goodness and she’s right, I mean, each the kids and grandkids. They’re beauteous radical and that’s the occurrence of getting that level down present connected the ground,” Patton said.

Jeri and Warren got joined a fewer years aft the crash. They person 2 kids present and six grandchildren.

Velvet and Andrew person 5 kids and 7 grandchildren.

Patton said for him, that Christmas time is 1 helium volition ne'er forget.

“In my clip arsenic a constabulary officer, I wrote galore transgression and mishap reports – excessively galore to remember. But this one—the 1 astir the Christmas miracle- this 1 I volition ne'er forget,” Patton said.

Jeri and Velvet said they had ne'er mislaid religion successful their begetter erstwhile the incidental happened and believed that God would get them done it.

“My household is precise a household of faith. Very elemental religion though. So conscionable the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed beryllium the sanction of the Lord, you know? It’s conscionable sometimes things hap for the good. Sometimes atrocious things happen, but God’s ever successful control,” Velvet said.

“I truly person to judge that it was his manus that protected america and kept america safe,” Jeri said.

The household said Willis passed distant successful August 2001 from complications from a changeable that helium had respective years before.

According to Connellsville Airport manager Bud Neckerauer, the substance presumption is ever unfastened now, including connected holidays.