Bruce Brown
10-21-2002, 01:22 PM
October 21, 2002
Power parachute crash kills Knox pilot
By TERRY TURNER
Tribune Correspondent
The parachute from a power parachute owned by Knox resident
Marvin "Butch" Stoll hangs in a tree on the edge of a landing strip
owned by Roger Shepherd, near County Road 400 South.
Tribune Photo TERRY TURNER
KNOX -- A Knox man died Sunday while flying a powered parachute south
of Knox. He had purchased the flight machine on Friday.
Marvin "Butch" Stoll, 50, of County Road 400 South, took off at about
8 a.m. from a friend's landing strip just east of his home.
Investigators believe Stoll fell ill, or possibly had a heart attack,
and attempted to land. He was unable to make it to the ground and
veered west into the edge of nearby woods. The chute became entangled
in a tree and the machine rolled into the brush in the woods.
A neighbor called 911, and police, rescue and emergency crews
responded. California Township-Bass Lake Fire Department Chief Phil
Banasiak was the first on the scene.
"It looked like he'd been trying to land, and he'd ended up in the
trees," said Banasiak. "When I got there, he was still in the plane.
It was on the ground and the parachute was still in the trees. He
wasn't breathing. I got him out of the cockpit and on the ground so I
could start CPR on him."
Banasiak and Starke County Emergency Medical Services Director Randy
Abbey performed CPR on him until he was taken to Starke Memorial
Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by Starke County Coroner Mark
Smith.
Neighbor Roger Shepherd said he saw Stoll at take-off. "I watched
him, it looked like there was no problem, and he was fairly close to
the ground," he said.
Shepherd, who has flown for five years, said Stoll had become
interested in the craft while watching him fly. Stoll had flown a
couple of times last year in Shepherd's paraplane.
Power parachute crash kills Knox pilot
By TERRY TURNER
Tribune Correspondent
The parachute from a power parachute owned by Knox resident
Marvin "Butch" Stoll hangs in a tree on the edge of a landing strip
owned by Roger Shepherd, near County Road 400 South.
Tribune Photo TERRY TURNER
KNOX -- A Knox man died Sunday while flying a powered parachute south
of Knox. He had purchased the flight machine on Friday.
Marvin "Butch" Stoll, 50, of County Road 400 South, took off at about
8 a.m. from a friend's landing strip just east of his home.
Investigators believe Stoll fell ill, or possibly had a heart attack,
and attempted to land. He was unable to make it to the ground and
veered west into the edge of nearby woods. The chute became entangled
in a tree and the machine rolled into the brush in the woods.
A neighbor called 911, and police, rescue and emergency crews
responded. California Township-Bass Lake Fire Department Chief Phil
Banasiak was the first on the scene.
"It looked like he'd been trying to land, and he'd ended up in the
trees," said Banasiak. "When I got there, he was still in the plane.
It was on the ground and the parachute was still in the trees. He
wasn't breathing. I got him out of the cockpit and on the ground so I
could start CPR on him."
Banasiak and Starke County Emergency Medical Services Director Randy
Abbey performed CPR on him until he was taken to Starke Memorial
Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by Starke County Coroner Mark
Smith.
Neighbor Roger Shepherd said he saw Stoll at take-off. "I watched
him, it looked like there was no problem, and he was fairly close to
the ground," he said.
Shepherd, who has flown for five years, said Stoll had become
interested in the craft while watching him fly. Stoll had flown a
couple of times last year in Shepherd's paraplane.