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Posted: Monday October 25, 1999 04:52 PM
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (CNN/SI) -- U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart and four other people were killed Monday when a private Learjet bound from Florida to Texas crashed in South Dakota after flying out of control for hours. The chartered, twin-engine Lear 35 may have suddenly lost cabin pressure soon after taking off from Orlando, Fla., for Dallas, government officials said. Air traffic controllers couldn't raise anyone by radio. Fighter jets were sent after the plane and followed it for much of its flight but were unable to help. The pilots drew close and noticed no structural damage but were unable to see inside the Learjet because its windows were frosted, indicating the temperature inside was well below freezing. "It is difficult to express our sense of shock and sadness over the death of Payne Stewart," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement from PGA headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Curtis Strange, who was named Ryder Cup captain earlier Monday and looked forward to working with Stewart, a five-time member of the United States team, was stunned by the loss. "You never think about these things until it hits close to home," Strange said. "We've lost someone who has been a great ambassador for our game." The aircraft left Orlando, Fla., about 9:20 a.m. EDT bound for Dallas, and the last communication came was when the plane was over Gainesville, Fla., said Tony Molinaro, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Chicago. An Air Force F-16 fighter jet from Tyndall, Fla., was diverted from a routine training flight to check out the jet, Air Force officials said. Two F-15 fighters from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., then took over to follow it and they later handed off the monitoring to two Air National Guard F-16s from Tulsa, Okla. Gene Abdallah, superintendent of the South Dakota Highway Patrol, confirmed the plane had crashed in a grassy field about two miles west of Mina, S.D., in the north-central part of the state. Crews at the scene were attempting to identify the victims, he said.
"The plane had pretty much nosed straight into the ground," said Mina resident Lesley Braun, who lives about two miles from the site. "There's not a lot of debris spread out a long ways." She said her husband was among those who saw the plane coming down. "They saw it nose down so they hopped in the vehicle and raced towards where it was going down and were the first ones on the scene," she said. No one survived, South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow said. No one on the ground was hurt, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. Stewart, who lived in Orlando, had been expected in Houston on Tuesday for practice rounds for the Tour Championship, the PGA Tour's final tournament of the year for the top 30 players on its money list. Stewart attended SMU in Dallas and had friends in the area. The PGA Tour said his spot in the tournament will not be filled. A blue ribbon was tied to the name plate on his parking place at Champions Golf Club in Houston. Also killed were Stewart's agents, Robert Fraley and Van Ardan, and the two pilots, identified as Michael Kling, 43, and Stephanie Bellegarrigue, 27. The jet was operated by Sunjet Aviation Inc. Fraley, a former quarterback at Alabama, was also the agent for NFL coaches Bill Parcells, Tom Coughlin and Dan Reeves, as well as baseball players Orel Hershiser and Frank Thomas. Stewart was in the prime of a brilliant career, the defending U.S. Open champion and a vital part of the recent American Ryder Cup victory in Boston. Perhaps, because of his unique clothing he was the most recognizable golfer on earth.
He was one of many professional golfers who used time-share flying to make his extraordinary traveling schedule easier the last few seasons. This is the most significant air death on the PGA Tour since Champagne Tony Lema died in a crash after winning the British Open in 1964. Stewart played on the PGA Tour for 20 years, winning eleven tournaments, including two U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship. The Opens came eight years apart, separated by a lengthy and troubling slump, but a year ago, he made nearly $1.1 million. This season, he had won twice and made over $2 million, third on the PGA money list with a slim chance of overtaking Tiger Woods and the money championship with victories this weekend and next at the World Golf Championships in Spain. Monday afternoon, visitors, including fellow golfer Mark O'Meara, began arriving at Stewart's home in an exclusive Orlando community. A neighbor, visibly upset, jumped into a car next door. In Texas, fellow golfer Duffy Waldorf, preparing to practice Monday, told KTRH-AM in Houston that he considered turning around and going home when he heard the news. "He's an irreplaceable guy, not just for his playing record," Waldorf said, citing Stewart's unmistakable presence on the course and the consistency of his play. Stewart and his wife, Tracey, had two children, Chelsea, 13, and Aaron, 10. Last year, Stewart had undergone a religious transformation and used that calming influence to maintain his balance during the pressure-packed final round at Pinehurst in June. He rolled in one of the most dramatic putts in PGA history to win the U.S. Open on the 72nd hole and his fist-thrusting reaction will be a moment that would have lived forever in golf lore but, now, become his final international legacy.
"I'm proud of the fact that my faith in God is so much stronger and I'm so much more at peace with myself than I've ever been in my life," Stewart said after the win. "Where I was with my faith last year and where I am now is leaps and bounds." The Rev. Jim Henry, retired pastor for First Baptist Church of Orlando who used to minister to the Stewart family, was one of those outside the home. "He was a wonderful Christian who had Christ in his life and somehow in his death," Henry said. "That brought a great sense of peace to his family in a difficult and tragic time." His father had played a huge role in his early career and his death in 1985 left the son understandably struggling. Two years later, when he won the Bay Hill Invitational, he donated the entire first place check to an Orlando hospital in his father's memory. From the beginning, he was one of the only regulars on tour who dressed in plus-fours, calling it his own little contribution to preserving the history of the game. Several times, he even played in white shirt and tie, as they did in the early part of the century. His closet at his Orlando home was larger than some apartments, with racks and racks of shirts and knickers and one small closet for nothing other than his socks. Lockhart said two FAA officials already had been dispatched to the scene of the crash, as had a National Transportation Safety Board representative. Planes that fly above 12,000 feet are normally pressurized, because passengers would have difficulty breathing the thin air above that altitude. If there is a pressurization problem, those aboard the aircraft could slowly lose consciousness or, if an aircraft broke a door or window seal, perish in seconds from hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency. Once reaching a cruise altitude, pilots often switch on the autopilot. If they passed out, the plane would cruise until it ran out of fuel. John Nance, a commercial airline pilot and aviation author, said he can't recall an incident in which a civilian jet depressurized in flight. "Certainly we have had some incidents in military aviation that make this all too sadly familiar, but not in civil aviation," he said. The twin-engine plane was made in 1976. A Lear 35 model can seat up to 10 people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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