Airplane piloted by ex-Wal-Mart exec lands by parachute

FAYETTEVILLE -- A small airplane piloted by former Wal-Mart executive Bill Simon parachuted to the ground Tuesday morning, landing on a thoroughfare across from Fayetteville High School and just blocks from the busy U.S. 62 entrance to the University of Arkansas campus.

The plane narrowly missed the high school, several power lines, traffic signals and trees, but it clipped the right rear of a pickup, one of many vehicles that were on Martin Luther King Boulevard at the time. There were no life-threatening injuries in the crash, according to reports.

[GALLERY: Photos of plane after it parachuted onto Fayetteville street]

"This is the first time I can recall having a plane crash on a major highway in Fayetteville," said Sgt. Craig Stout, Fayetteville Police Department public information officer. "Given the proximity of the high school, the university and all the traffic out here, it could have been an absolute tragedy."

Stout identified those on the plane as Simon, 56, the pilot; Cliff Slincard, 59, the co-pilot; and Maurice Willis, 47, a passenger. Simon lives in Rogers and is the former CEO and president of Wal-Mart U.S. He stepped down in 2014. Hometowns were not provided for the others on the plane.

Simon and Slincard were taken to Washington Regional Medical Center. Simon was treated and released, and Slincard was admitted and listed in good condition, according to a hospital spokesman Tuesday evening. No information was available on Willis, who was not listed as a patient. Police spelled Slincard's name with a c, but the hospital spelled it as Slinkard.

The plane clipped a pickup driven by Shakemia Harris, 30, of Fayetteville, according to police. Harris was also treated and released from the hospital.

Simon told The Associated Press that he deployed the aircraft's parachute, which settled the plane to the ground. He said he suffered a burn when an air bag deployed.

The plane is a Cirrus SR22T. The plane's tail number N857SW is registered to WG Aviation in Rogers. The address listed is for a piece of property that belongs to Simon.

A flight plan filed for the five-passenger, single-engine plane indicated that the aircraft left Bentonville Municipal Airport about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday for a two-hour flight to Waco Regional Airport in Texas. A return trip was scheduled for the end of the day, according to the tracking website Flight Aware.

Simon serves on the advisory board for the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University in Waco.

"We understand from news reports that [Simon] and his passengers have minor injuries, and we are thankful that everyone is OK," Baylor University spokesman Lori Fogleman said in a statement.

Stout said the plane began losing oil pressure about 10 miles west of Fayetteville. The pilot declared an emergency and was heading for Fayetteville Municipal Airport-Drake Field to attempt a landing when the engine failed. He then deployed the plane's parachute.

The 65-foot-diameter parachute system is designed as a "seat belt" for the plane, according to the manufacturer. During an emergency, a handle in the cockpit can be pulled to shoot a rocket out of a hatch that unfurls the parachute, which slows the aircraft's rate of descent.

The plane came to rest about 4 miles short of the airport. Videos taken by witnesses showed the parachuting plane drifting down, swaying from side to side.

The plane came to rest on the south side of Martin Luther King Boulevard just across from the school, adjacent to a wooded area. The fuselage was on the sidewalk. The left wing blocked the southern-most traffic lane.

Firefighters contained a fuel leak to less than 25 gallons on the ground, Stout said.

There were no reports of any other people or property involved in the crash.

Martin Luther King Boulevard was closed between Hill Avenue and Stadium Drive until Federal Aviation Administration officials gave permission to move the plane. Those investigators arrived about 4 p.m. Tuesday and allowed the wreckage to be removed a short time later, and the road reopened, Stout said.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigates all civil aviation accidents in the U.S. It determines the likely cause of crashes and issues safety recommendations aimed at preventing future ones.

Police cordoned off part of the high school property near South Stadium Drive and looked for any debris from the plane, Stout said. Debris can result from an airplane when its parachute is deployed.

Fayetteville High band director Barry Harper said he was in the press-box area at the school's football field, Harmon Field, nearing the end of a morning rehearsal with 180 students Tuesday morning.

"We heard an airplane," he said. "We have a lot of distractions out there. We didn't think anything about it."

Then, Harper said, he heard the plane's engine sputter, looked up and heard a loud "pop." He saw a parachute and the plane coming down nose first.

"Then we worried about what we could do," Harper said. "We had no idea where it was headed."

Harmon Field was in no danger, but Harper and the assistant directors initially worried the plane would hit the high school, he said. The assistant directors ran in the direction of the plane and reported back that the aircraft had landed on Martin Luther King Boulevard.

"That's something you don't see every day," Harper said. "The kids obviously had a hard time concentrating. They were obviously distracted by it."

Cirrus SR20 and SR22 planes are equipped with an airframe parachute system that can be manually released from inside the cockpit in cases of engine trouble or loss of airplane control. The parachute slows the plane's descent.

There were 68 instances of parachutes released from Cirrus planes, ranging from 2002 through mid-October, according to the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association. According to Cirrus Aircraft, 85 people survived crashes after deploying the parachutes on their Cirrus planes.

Information for this article was provided by Scarlet Sims, Dan Holtmeyer, Amye Buckley and Brenda Bernet of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Metro on 11/04/2015