Top news stories in 2009- #3 Dumped plane crashes in East Milton

The pilot of a plane that crashed on January 11 in East Milton a mile north of the Peter Prince Airport is on the run in Alabama.

As of press time Marcus Schrenker, 38 of Indianapolis, is being sought by authorities after he apparently ditched his plane after issuing a false distress call to the FAA Atlanta Center.

Schrenker, who has identified himself on his YouTube site, as an “Unlimited Aerobatic Pilot with 10,000 plus hours of experience,” took off Sunday from Anderson (Indiana) Municipality Airport and was headed for Destin.

When the plane was 35 miles southwest of Birmingham, he contacted the FAA Atlanta Center declaring an in-flight emergency.

Schrenker reported that the windshield of the aircraft, a six-seat Piper Malibu PA-46 Turbo Prop, had imploded and he was bleeding severely.

After that initial call radio contact with Schrenker was unsuccessful.

Apparently investigators now believe he intentionally abandoned the plane by putting it on auto pilot and parachuting to the ground.

Military jets were dispatched to intercept the plane, which they found around 12 miles north of Whiting Field, and pilots used flares to light the area around the plane and to check on the pilot.

They noticed the door to the aircraft was open and the cockpit was dark.

The plane crashed around 9:15 p.m. in the Magnolia Basin, which is north of the Lakeside Drive and Lakeside Court area and six miles south of Whiting Field.

When officials found the aircraft there was no blood inside and the impact had heavily damaged the plane, which came to rest on its roof.
After a search for the pilot was called off, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s received a call from the Childersburg (Ala.) Police Department Monday around 2:26 a.m.

Officers in Childersburg reported that a white male subject came up to one of their officers at a store stating he had been in a canoeing accident with some friends. He was identified by his Indiana Drivers License as Schrenker and was described as wet from the knees down with no other injuries. He also had some goggles that looked like they were made for flying according to the Sgt. Scott Haines

Schrenker was taken to a nearby hotel in Harpersville, Ala., and after learning about the airplane crash contacted the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Childersburg Police returned to the hotel and discovered Schrenker had checked into the hotel under a false name and when they went to his room he was not there.

According to Childersburg Police, Schrenker paid for his room with cash, put on a black toboggan cap and ran into the woods located next to the hotel.

Currently officials in Alabama, Indiana, and Florida are working to locate Schrenker, while the FAA and NTSB officials are at the crash site in East Milton to conduct their investigation.

As planes flew overhead to locate the abandoned plane and help officers locate the crash site many area residents were puzzled by the extra air traffic over their homes.

Residents in the area noticed the military jets flying over as they were spotting the plane and assisting emergency personnel find the crash scene, which had to be done via GPS coordinates.

"My wife ran to the bedroom to grab our son when the plane went overhead," said Michael Stone, an East Milton resident on South Airport Rd. "It sounded like the plane was going to crash into our living room.

"Since that there are several officers and planes with spot lights on flying overhead."

Residents in the area are use to hearing planes due to the proximity to the Peter Prince Airport, but nothing like this.

"We were home watching a movie when we heard this jet fly over the house and we felt like it was going to crash into the home," said Mike Morris. "We didn't know what was going on as we kept hearing the jets and the helicopters.

"Normally we hear bombing practice from Eglin and planes taking off from the airport, but to hear jets like that that low is something totally different."

According to Haines it was very difficult to get to the crash site Sunday night.

"We had to use boats to get there and then had to walk in a swampy wooded area neat the area of the Blackwater River off of Lakeshore Drive,' said Haines. "We searched the area in an effort to locate the pilot utilizing helicopters, planes, boats, and dogs, but we could not locate him."

Schrenker’s aircraft was registered to Indianapolis based Heritage Aircraft LLC, while his Icon Group includes Heritage Investment Services and Heritage Wealth Management in Indianapolis.

Current attempts to contact these entities owned by Schrenker have been unsuccessful, as the numbers do not seem to be active.

Schrenker’s plane was based at the Anderson Airport and according to Ron Smith, interim manager of the Anderson Municipal Airport; he flies pretty regularly and also is known to regularly fly to Florida as well.

Attempts to contact the Childersburg Police were unsuccessful as of press time.