STILLWATER — Oklahoma State University women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed when the single-engine plane they were riding in during a recruiting trip crashed near a wildlife management area in central Arkansas.
The university said the pair died in the crash Thursday night near Perryville, about 45 miles west of Little Rock. The Winona Wildlife Management Area is in steep terrain in the eastern Ouachita Mountains, but a cause of the crash was not announced.
In January 2001, 10 men affiliated with the university's men's basketball team died in a Colorado plane crash.
OSU said the plane's pilot and another passenger also died in Thursday's crash. Their names were not released and OSU said they were not associated with the university.
"There were no survivors," the university statement said.
The Perry County Sheriff's Department said the crash occurred just before 7 p.m. about 4 miles south of Perryville. FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said an immediate search revealed that at least two were dead. The school's statement Friday put the death toll at four.
Lunsford said the plane was a single-engine Piper PA-28.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending investigators, and that it could take nine months to determine the cause of the crash.
Breaking News
BREAKING NEWS: OSU's Kurt Budke, assistant coach die in plane crash
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- BREAKING: Nobles to take hoops job at Porter
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Here's what happened to our classifieds for Thursday.
For those who are asking why both our print and e-edition didn't have classifieds today:
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INFORMATION INFORMATION ON OUR E-EDITION... PLEASE READ!!!
PLEASE NOTE that our Sunday e-edition is not yet available, though it should be soon.
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Player: Gipson staying at NSU
Randy Gipson has changed his mind about being the new women's basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State, according to a Facebook post by a current Northeastern State basketball player.
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IMPORTANT EVENT TONIGHT! Help reduce population of strays
Beth Drake, executive director of Tails Humane Society in Dekalb, Ill., will be making a presentation about the creation of a new organization called OAWC (Oklahoma Animal Welfare Coalition), Friday, March 9, 2012, at 6 p.m., in NSU’s Webb Auditorium. The presentation is free to the public.
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Update: Deputy to have surgery after pursuit, crash
A Cherokee County deputy is expected to have surgery this morning after he and another deputy crashed their vehicles during a Sunday morning pursuit.
- Deputies injured during pursuit
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Cherokee Nation: Jay clinic closed temporarily
JAY - The Cherokee Nation on Friday announced it is temporarily shuttering the Sam Hider Health Center in Jay, citing air-quality issues
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BREAKING NEWS: Cherokee Nation Business CEO David Stewart put on administrative leave.
http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Article/Index/6035
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Text message sparks concern at Keys
Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday night were trying to determine the seriousness of a text message sent from one Keys Elementary School student to another that warned of potential gang activity.
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