Death of Teutenberg Family in Plane Crash Gets International Notice

The death of Mr. Fred Teutenberg, his wife and five children in a plane crash this past weekend in Alabama has garnered international attention.

Britain's Daily Mail has a story about the accident. 

The Teutenberg family was flying back home to Niceville, Florida, when their small plane crashed in Alabama. Teutenberg's teammates on his adult soccer league will don black armbands and take time before an adult league game to remember the Teutenbergs, according to the nfw.dailynews.com.

The Mail reported that the eldest daughter, Ashlei Bruewer, 16, was ill, and not able to make the flight.

Rescuers could not immediately recover the bodies. They had to wait hours before the wreckage cooled down. Officials used infra-red cameras to locate the bodies inside the crashed airplane, found deep in the woods, about one mile from the Demopolis, Ala. airport.

Teutenberg, 42, radioed authorities that he had lost an engine in flight. The Demopolis Times reported that the plane might have flown a while on one engine.

"Losing an engine creates an emergency," said Demopolis Airport Manager Buzz Sawyer,"but under normal circumstances, you can fly on one engine, but a plane that size (a Cessna 421C) should be able to fly on one engine for sometime."

According to FAA filings, the plane departed Creve Coeur airport Saturday night, enroute to Destin, Fla.

Mr. Teutenberg was a 1987 graduate of MICDS and accomplished musician and soccer goalie. He attended UM-St. Louis from 1988-91.

Funeral arrangements for the family of seven at this time are incomplete. This is believed to be the largest single loss of life in aviation in one accident so far this year in the United States.

Information was compiled from reports from the London Mail On Line and the Demopolis, Ala. Times.