How 7 years old girl survived a plane crash that killed 4 family members

A 7-year-old girl who survived a plane crash in Kentucky, USA that killed her parents and two other family members has been released from the hospital, an official said on Saturday.

According to an Associated Press (AP) report, Kentucky State Police Sgt. Dean Patterson also said Federal Aviation Administration officials have arrived at the scene to try to determine why the small Piper PA-34 crashed as it was flying over in rural South-Western Kentucky early Friday evening.

The plane had reported engine trouble and lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly before the 5:55 p.m. CST crash, authorities said. About a half hour later, a man called 911 and told dispatchers that a 7-year-old girl had walked to his home in Kuttawa, Kentucky and said she had been involved in a plane crash.

The girl had walked nearly one mile, through thick piles of brush, in temperatures that were less than 40 degrees before reaching the home of 71-year-old Larry Wilkins. The girl was treated at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, Kentucky and released early Saturday, Patterson said.

Patterson said the girl was the daughter of the two adults who died in the crash, Marty Gutzler, 48; and his wife, Kimberly Gutzler, 46.

Also killed in the crash were the girl’s sister, Piper Gutzler, 9; and a cousin, Sierra Wilder, 14. All were from Nashville, Illinois. The bodies have been recovered and sent to Louisville for autopsies.