Girl, 7, who lost all members of her family in a plane crash walks away free

A seven-year-old girl survived a plane crash that killed four people - and wandered from the wreckage to raise the alarm, US police say. 

The light aircraft came down in a heavily wooded area of Lyon County, in western Kentucky.

 

A resident called officers when the distraught girl walked to his home and told him she had been in a plane crash.

 

 

 

Larry Wilkins, 71, told NBC News he was watching TV when he heard a knock at the door.
 

"She was bleeding pretty bad, her legs were bleeding, her face had a bloody nose. She was barefoot, only had one sock on," he said.

 

"She told me that her mum and her dad were dead, and she was in a plane crash, and the plane was upside down.

"She asked if she could stay here. I said, 'Honey, what can I do for you?' I got a wash cloth and cleaned her up. And of course called 911."

 

The Piper PA-34 reported engine trouble and lost contact with air traffic controllers while flying over southwestern Kentucky at 6pm yesterday.

 

Kentucky State Police said Marty Gutzler, 49, Kimberly Gutzler, 45, their nine-year-old daughter Piper Gutzler, and her 14-year-old cousin Sierra Wilder died in the crash.  All four were from Nashville.

Police say the name of the seven-year-old girl is being withheld at her family's request.

 

Sergeant Dean Patterson, from Kentucky State Police, said: "This girl came out of the wreckage herself and found the closest residence and reported the plane crash.

"It's a miracle in a sense that she survived it, but it's tragic that four others didn't."

The girl was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The plane had taken off from Tallahassee Regional Airport, Florida, and was flying to Mount Vernon, Illinois.