NTSB: Pilot in fatal crash survived by girl reported engine trouble

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The pilot of a small plane over western Kentucky lost sight of the airport and reported the right engine had stopped shortly before the plane crashed and killed everyone aboard except a 7-year-old girl, according to a preliminary report.

The National Transportation Safety Board's report says air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane around 5:55 p.m., about five minutes after the pilot had asked for assistance because of engine problems. The pilot's last contact with controllers was that he had lost sight of the airport.

The plane landed upside down with the landing gear retracted. The crash killed Marty Gutzler; his wife, Kimberly; their daughter Piper; and her cousin, Sierra Wilder. The couple's daughter, Sailor, survived the crash.

Licensed commercial pilot Marty Gutzler was also killed when the Piper PA-34 crashed.

According to investigators, Sailor Gutzler was sitting in one of the rear seats and climbed out through a 12-inch hole, CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz reported.

Kentucky State Police Lt. Brent White was one of the first at the scene.

"She knew the aircraft was in trouble, she knew her father was having difficulty - from our understanding - with maintaining altitude with the aircraft."

White said after he saw the wreckage, he could not imagine anyone walking away alive.

In near freezing temperatures, she walked three quarters of a mile, wearing shorts, a t-shirt and one sock. She made her way through fallen trees and thorny bushes for 30 minutes -- until she saw a porch light. Larry Wilkins, 71 answered the door.

"I saw a bloody little girl," Wilkins said. "With tears in her eyes, her lips trembling. She told me that her parents were dead. I asked her how she knew that, she said she tried to wake them up and they wouldn't wake up.

"Bravest kid I've ever seen in my life," said Wilkins.