Investigators say pilot in northern Missouri plane crash ignored warnings of bad weather

GALT, Mo. (AP) - National investigators say the pilot of a small plane that crashed in northern Missouri last month ignored warnings about ice and bad weather.

The crash on February 8, near Galt, in Grundy County, killed Philip Joseph Lefevre III, 82, of Glendale, and Philip Joseph Lefevre IV, 47, of Sunset Hills.

The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report says the single-engine Cessna was covered with ice when it landed in Moberly.

The pilot asked for help to de-ice the plane, but dismissed suggestions that the men stay in Moberly until the weather improved.

KTVO learned from Federal Aviation Administration records that the aircraft was attempting to make an emergency landing in a farm field and struck a tree, causing it to crash.

Grundy County Sheriff Rodney Herring said the aircraft was traveling from Moberly to Kirksville, but it went far off-track before the crash.

The plane had taken off from the airport in Downtown St. Louis prior to flying to Moberly.

The two men's bodies were found in the plane.

The report did not indicate which of the men was the pilot.