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[u]A very sad story for a family that loved flying.[/u]
Surgeon in trouble for removing son's body from plane crash
Police found debris of craft - no body
Thomas Ropp
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 25, 2005 12:00 AM
In a case federal aviation authorities describe as "one of the weirdest ever," a Paradise Valley surgeon could face federal and state charges after removing the body of his dead son from a plane crash.
Jacob Lundell, 21, died late Saturday afternoon while doing touch-and-go maneuvers at the Casa Grande Municipal Airport, police said.
His father, Dr. Mark Lundell, and a brother witnessed the crash, authorities said. advertisement
Casa Grande police arrived a few minutes later to find the scene of an obvious fatality - but no body.
"There was a lot of blood and even brain matter in the cockpit," Casa Grande police Lt. Steve Cantrell said.
Officers said that a witness saw a red pickup truck pull up to the crash site and that two men removed the body. When the witness asked the men if he should call 911, the older man said no, they could handle it, police said.
Case Grande police got the identifying N-number off the plane tail and located a Paradise Valley address.
They contacted Paradise Valley police who arrived at the Lundell home seconds before a red pickup pulled up with the body.
Larry Scott, assistant Paradise Valley police chief, said other family members were present in the driveway, including Deborah Lundell, the victim's mother.
"They were all in shock," Scott said.
Deborah Lundell told Channel 3 (KTVK) that her husband brought their son's body home because "he knew my grieving, he knew my heartache; he knew I needed to see him before they took him away."
Mark Lundell did the right thing in allowing the family to say goodbye, she told the TV station.
"He may have legally not done the right thing, but morally he did the right thing," she added.
The body was taken to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
Donn Walker of the FAA's Los Angeles regional office said their investigator showed up shortly after the Casa Grande police and was baffled.
"He called up and said we just had a plane crash but can't find the body," Walker said. "It's one of the most bizarre things I've ever heard."
Walker said that the victim had neither a pilot's license nor a valid student pilot's certificate and that the plane, a 1961 Nord owned by the Lundells, was not registered.
Walker said the FAA is investigating possible federal violations, including the removal of the body from the crash site.
Andrea Esquer, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Attorney General's Office, would not comment on the state's position, pending the outcome of the probe by U.S. authorities.
There are several Arizona statutes that address such situations. One requires that human body cannot be removed from the scene of a suspicious death unless a county medical examiner gives permission.
The Lundells have five children. They have appeared in newspaper articles in connection with their love of flying.
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