Newark Man Dead in Thursday Plane Crash

By Crystal Howerton

Stevens L. Walker, 71, was pronounced dead following an airplane crash in rural Lewis County on Thursday afternoon.
Members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Lewis County Sheriff’s Department responded to an airplane crash approximately seven-tenths of a mile east of State Highway D, on Lewis County 245th Street at around 4:30 p.m. November 1, 2007. Walker was the pilot and sole occupant of the plane.
According to information provided by Charlie Sharpe, Sharpe Farms, and witnesses, Walker had taken off from Sharpe Farms Airport just minutes before the single engine Zodiac 601Xl Zenair airplane descended nose-first into a nearby field.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) arrived Friday to investigate.  According to Lewis County Coroner Larry Arnold, the cause of death is undetermined pending autopsy results.
The Lewis County Ambulance District, Lewistown Fire Department, LaBelle Fire Department, and the Lewis County Coroner assisted the Patrol and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department at the scene.