Peters Township (KDKA) It’s a Christmas that a family will never forget even after 50 years.
On December 25, 1971, the Voshel family decided to fly their single-engine Beechcraft Musketeers from their home in Dover, Delaware, to Connellsville, PA, to visit the family.
The plane’s pilot and owner, Willis Voshel, and two daughters, Jerry Spyker and Velvet Siegel, spent Christmas afternoon loading up with Jerry’s then-boyfriend, Warren Spyker, who was in the Air Force.
“I had to work that day. So, I went to work and around noon my boss told me that because it was so slow I took the rest of the day off,” said Warren Spyker. “So, I went out to meet my girlfriend and while I was there, her father said, ‘Hey, you want me to fly back to see your guys’ and I said of course.”
After a short visit, around 8 p.m., the family moved back to Cornellsville to head back home.
“We needed fuel, but since it was Christmas night, everyone had already got home and the fuel pit was closed,” Spiker said.
“Dad was like, it’s not a big deal. There was another airport, but not too far from takeoff. So, he said we’d go there, get fuel and then go home,” Velvet said.
Velvet was 10 years old at the time and loved flying with her father.
Jerry was a senior in high school, awaiting graduation.
“My dad loved flying. He was passionate about flying his own private plane,” Jerry said.
The family said Willis planned to fly to an airport in Morgantown to refuel the plane, which should have been a 15-minute flight.
“We soon realized there was something wrong and he (Willis) thought, ‘I just can’t see the runway,’ or you know because he started talking to that person at the airport. And I don’t know, I think the air traffic controllers were convinced we were near them, and they told us to be on the same path that we were almost there,” Velvet said.
“They kept saying we should see the runway lights and we weren’t looking at them and not seeing them,” Jerry said.
The family didn’t know they were actually headed to Washington County, but knew they were about to run out of gas.
“He was telling her how much and how much time he had left and as it (the gas gauge) went down and down, you know, we realize it’s going to be a problem, but I mean ‘I was 10 years old, so in my mind, I didn’t panic. It was my dad. He was going to take care of us. It was a child’s faith,'” said Velvet.
Velvet said her father told air traffic control that the plane had run out of gas and they had to take it off.
“So, we’re looking at the highway and then all of a sudden he saw the parking lot and he said, ‘Okay, better yet,'” Velvet said.
The family saw the Donaldson Square parking lot which was empty at the time and there were no cars in the parking lot because it was Christmas.
The parking lot was lined with light poles, creating a makeshift runway for their landing.
Then he said that his gas has run out.
“I was calling on May, May Day and giving the plane number and saying we are going down. We’re going down. May Day, May Day,” Warren said.
“All of a sudden, it clicked. I’m like, May Day?! Dad said May Day! That means we’re going down!” Velvet said.
“As we came to our landing, there was a light pole at the end that was not lit,” Jerry said. “He grabbed our right wing and caught the plane perfectly. It overturned us and totaled the plane.”
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Officer on duty that night was Scott Patton, a part-time Peters Township police officer. He said he was the only officer on duty that night as it was a holiday.
“Dispatch called me. I was traveling north on Route 19 about in Upper St. Clair when I got a call from headquarters. The quote from headquarters was, ‘A little ‘airplane’ in the parking lot behind Witte’s hardware. There’s been an accident with him. Look at it,” Patton said.
Patton said, at first he assumed it was a small child playing with a new toy, an airplane on the end of a string.
He said it was not until dispatch was called again that he realized it was a real plane that had crashed.
“He means a plane crash! Why didn’t he say a plane crashed? I pedal to the metal I’m on, siren and all of a sudden, my brain is processing what I’m going to watch now Patton said.
When he first arrived at the scene, he said he could not see any fire or debris.
He said it wasn’t until he turned to Witte’s hardware that he saw an aircraft worn out with a wing on its nose.
Collision
“Dad said brace yourself. We were behind and Jerry pushed my head down on his lap and covered me,” said Velvet. “And all of a sudden, we just pounce. Shocked. It was like, what happened?”
“Eventually we stopped and she (Velvet) sat down, we both looked at each other because my dad and Warren were in front and they went ahead and hit their heads,” Jerry said. “They just kind of slipped and you know, blood was everywhere, and Velvet and I remember we looked at each other and we were like, Are they dead? We just didn’t know.”
They all survived.
The family said Willis kicked open the plane door and started evacuating everyone. Warren suffered a head injury and ran to the street for help.
“When Jerry said, I feel like I’m hurt, my back is broken,” Velvet said.
Patton said he arrived at the scene and helped him out of the plane and into an ambulance.
50 years later
It’s been 50 years since the accident happened this Christmas. Patton said he decided to try to trace the family after someone posted about the accident on Facebook and if anyone remembered it.
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In November, Warren and Jerry Spyker arrive at Pittsburgh International Airport to meet again at the crash site.
Velvet and her husband Andrew Siegel came from Dover, Delaware.
“We greeted and hugged. Because even though we haven’t met each other in 50 years, we have this long relationship,” Patton said. “Just remembering and bringing it all up again And I said it was a Christmas miracle the way circumstances landed him safely without divine intervention.
“It brings back a lot of good memories and a lot of bad memories. But it’s nice to get together and finally meet her in different circumstances,” Warren said.
The light pole the family hit that night still remains as a stubble in the ground at Donaldson Square.
“It amazes me that they’ve never changed it,” Warren said.
The family said that their life changed forever after the accident.
“In the year after the accident, I decided I was going to get my private pilot’s license so I wouldn’t be at the mercy of anyone there again,” Warren said. “I, you know, would be able to figure out what’s going on, fly the plane and land the plane.”
“Big change for my life? I’ve never liked flying the way I did before. I mean, I loved it,” Velvet said.
Velvet said that he took off again in his father’s plane to overcome his fear.
“I went up a few more times but it never came back. I was like, no, I know what can happen now,” Velvet said.
“To this day, I have a huge lump in the middle of my back. It’s worth feeling. I haven’t had any problems with it,” Jerry said.
“Here’s the biggest miracle. They showed me their family photos. Goodness and that’s right, I mean, all the kids and grandchildren. They’re beautiful people and it’s a miracle to get that plane to land here,” Patton said.
Jerry and Warren married a few years after the accident. He now has two children and six grandchildren.
Velvet and Andrew have five children and seven grandchildren.
Patton said to him, that Christmas Day is one he would never forget.
“In my time as a police officer, I wrote many crime and accident reports – too many to remember. But this – about the Christmas miracle – is that I will never forget,” Patton said.
Jerry and Velvet said that they never lost faith in their father when this incident happened and that they believed that God would get them through it.
“My family is a family of great faith. Very simple faith though. So just Jehovah gives and Jehovah takes away. Blessed is Jehovah’s name, you know? Just sometimes things happen for good. Sometimes- Sometimes bad things happen, but God is always in control,” Velvet said.
“I really have to believe that it was his hand that protected us and kept us safe,” Jerry said.
The family said Willis died in August 2001 from complications of a stroke he had suffered several years earlier.
According to Connellsville Airport manager Bud Necrouer, the fueling station is now always open, including on holidays.
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