7-Year-old girl is sole survivor of airplane crash

A 7-year-old girl walked away from a small-plane crash that killed four people, including two children, in southwest Kentucky, according to the 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, New York times reported Saturday.

The girl, who was not immediately identified, was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, the authorities said.

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, the state police said.

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' babysitter, were also killed in the crash, said Sgt. Dean Patterson, a spokesperson for the state police.

The state police said the family was from Nashville, Ill., 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 as it was flying over Marshall County, which borders Lyon County, around 5.55 p.m., 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, Fla., earlier Friday and had stopped in Tallahassee on its way to Mount Vernon, Ill., the authorities said.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were expected to arrive at the crash site Saturday, according to the state police.