Plane crash in Turtle Creek Township kills two
by Karin L. Nauber
 |
| The Todd County
Sheriff's Department and the Minnesota National Guard conducted
the ground search for the missing plane. -staff photo by Ray Benning |
On Wednesday, October 24 at approximately 4:26 p.m., the Todd County Sheriff's Office received a call from the Minnesota Civil Air Patrol who advised them that they had located a downed aircraft in a swampy area in Turtle Creek Township.
According to Sheriff Peter Mikkelson, personnel from the sheriff's department, Browerville Fire Department, Browerville Ambulance Service and Long Prairie Fire Department responded and located the aircraft.
The majority of the aircraft was submerged in a remote swampy area. The aircraft was confirmed to be the plane that had been reported missing during the early morning hours of October 24.
Because of the conditions of the scene and the time of day, recovery efforts were conducted on Thursday, October 25 in the morning.
On the 25th, personnel from the sheriff's department, Browerville Fire Department, Morrison County Sheriff's Office Dive Team and the Minnesota National Guard conducted a recovery mission at the scene of the crash.
The bodies of Adam Ostapenko, age 20, a junior aviation student from Duluth and Annette Klosterman, age 22, a flight instructor for the University of North Dakota from Seattle were recovered from the wreckage.
 |
| The Piper Seminole
airplane was found mostly submerged in a swampy area in Turtle
Creek Township. -photo courtesy of Jason Brown, Long Prairie Leader |
According to Mikkelson, an investigation to attempt to determine the cause of the crash is being conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Traffic Safety Board.
The plane that Ostapenko and Klosterman were piloting was from the University of North Dakota and was being used in a training flight.
They were enroute from St. Paul to Grand Forks when the twin-engine Piper Seminole aircraft they were flying went down in rural Browerville.