Charter Air Company CEO, Pilot Killed When Corporate Jet Crashes

[eternalburn]

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A small charter jet crashed on an island in the Missouri River, killing the charter company's chief executive and his co-pilot, officials said.
The company had two crashes in less than 24 hours last year.

A police helicopter spotted the wreckage of the twin-engine Hansa 320 jet owned by Grand Aire Express Inc. early Wednesday, Sheriff's Department Lt. Craig McGuire said. The plane crashed on Howell Island, about four miles west of Spirit of St. Louis airport, he said.

The dead - the only two people aboard the plane - were Grand Aire president and chief executive Tahir Cheema, 50, of Toledo, and Eko Pinardi, a pilot for the company, officials said.

Grand Aire, which delivers auto parts and other cargo and operates a charter passenger service, said in a statement that Cheema was traveling on personal business, with Pinardi serving as his co-pilot. It said the company "has suffered a terrible loss."

The jet had disappeared from radar shortly after leaving the airport at about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, bound for Toledo, Ohio, where Grand Aire is based, Federal Aviation Administration officials said.

Airport director Richard Hrabko said workers reported the jet sounded as if it was having trouble during takeoff.

In April last year, the company lost two planes in crashes five hours apart.

One of the 2003 crashes killed three pilots near Toledo Express Airport as they took part in a training flight. In the other, two pilots escaped injury when their plane went down in the Mississippi River near downtown St. Louis.

Grand Aire grounded its planes voluntarily for nine days after the crashes. The NTSB blamed pilot error for the first accident; the investigation on the other one was pending.

The NTSB was investigating Wednesday's crash. Messages left with the agency were not immediately returned.



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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB0JIEW72E.html

[President Jesus]

1. Cheema's political donations

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?last=Cheema&first=Tahir

[daleo]

5. I make the score $1700 D to $5600 R

For what it's worth.

[seriousstan]

7. When someone dies in a plane crash this is the first post??

How black and white, or rather red and blue, of you.

[rooboy]

10. Yep....

this is a political forum, in case you hadn't noticed.

[ellie]

2. I wonder where

near Toledo Express Airport that plane crashed. I live near the airport, but didn't move here until October 2003.

[northzax]

4. well, if it crashed into the Missouri

then I'd wager it crashed about 600 miles from Toledo Express. And, luckily, a little bit farther from Tony Packo's.

[ellie]

11. LOL

No, I mean one of the crashes in 2003. My parents grew up in Birmingham, the neighborhood where Tony Packo's is. My uncle dated Nancy Horvath who later became Nancy Packo.

[Fovea]

3. Wow

I used to live across from Howell Island, good deer hunting.
I went to Francis Howell Highschool.

[Red State Rebel]

6. Hey fellow Missourian - I'm in Fenton

I've been to the Howell Schools on a number of occasions.

I followed this in the news last night - what a shame.

[Niche]

8. Anyone notice a trend with planes lately...

[seriousstan]

9. Not a trend at all, look at the facts here.....

http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi_bin/database.cgi