Plane crash kills couple from Tryon
By Tara Roberson
Stillwater NewsPress
A Tryon couple set to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Oct. 30 died Thursday when their small airplane crashed into a wooded area near Chester, Ark.
The bodies of Hurcel “Mac” and Pat McCutchen were found in the wreckage of their small plane in a rural area of northeastern Crawford County, Ark., authorities said.
Chester is about 20 miles northeast of Fort Smith in western Arkansas.
Gary Johnson, director of Stillwater Regional Airport, said he was contacted by Arkansas authorities Thursday evening.
“I was able to confirm that the plane was based at Stillwater Regional Airport for many years,” he said.
Deputies and other emergency personnel were sent to the site after a man reported finding the wreckage.
He allegedly told authorities the plane was in several pieces, but had apparently not burned.
Johnson said he notified the family and began checking on the crash.
“The plane departed Tunica, Miss., just after 12:30 p.m.,” Johnson said.
An anniversary announcement for the McCutchens was published Sunday in the NewsPress.
They have three sons, two daughters and eight grandchildren.
According to the announcement, they met while attending junior high school in Tulsa.
Mac proposed to his wife in a letter while serving in the U.S. Navy and they became engaged when she received a ring by Mistletoe Express.
They were married in 1954 and stationed in California, returning to Oklahoma after Mac was discharged.
They lived in Wagoner, Chouteau and Tulsa before settling in Tryon, where they had resided for 39 years.
Mac retired from Tinker Air Force Base in 1976 and he and Pat opened a Napa Auto Parts Store in Tryon in 1979.
Pat ran the store while Mac started another business, Central Tank Service, Inc. In 1985, their son, Chris, took over the oil service business and Mac opened Mac’s Auto Sales in Stillwater.
They closed the Napa store in 1988 and Pat joined Mac at their business in Stillwater.
They retired Oct. 1 with plans to travel. Mac received his pilot’s license in 1985.
Johnson said he had known the McCutchens for many years.
“This is a great loss to Stillwater,” he said. “They touched a lot of lives.”
Johnson said the National Transportation Safety Board was contacted and he spoke with them Thursday evening.
He said the lead investigator from the NTSB was expected to be on the scene Friday morning.
“The investigation will take a few days and then it will take several weeks before a report is available,” Johnson said.
Officials from the NTSB could not be reached Friday.
