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UPDATE: Investigation Into Airport Crash Continues

Deborah Shaar

 Updated 10/31/14 at 9 AM  

There were 4 deaths as the result of a plane crash on 10-30-14, at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport. The building was deemed unstable and crews are still active at the scene. KMUW's Abigail Wilson reports...

The pilot of the small twin-engine plane reported losing engine power just after takeoff. The aircraft crashed into the roof of the FlightSafety International building which is on airport property.  The crash killed the pilot, who was the only person on the plane; three people inside the building were also killed by the crash.  

Credit Abigail Wilson
Deputy Police Chief John Speer of the Wichita Police Department.

Deputy Chief of the Wichita Police Department John Speer says officials expect to be on the scene for a couple of days. Jet fuel from the plane burned so hot in the fire that emergency workers had to wait until the fire was cooler and more under control before going into the building to search.

“We’ve got Wichita Police Crime Scene Investigators who are going to be here. We’re going to be working with the fire department to recover the victims from the building and the wreckage and that’s just going to take a little while. We have to make sure the building is structurally sound to get in,” he says. 

The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the crash. The FlightSafety International building is not part of the terminal at Mid-Continent Airport and flights at the airport were only interrupted for a short period of time.