Skydiver Hits Plane In Midair; 4 Die -- Auburn Woman Is Killed

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - An Auburn, Wash., woman was among four people killed yesterday when a skydiver hit their plane and sent it crashing to earth.

The parachutist, Alfred Peters, 51, who had jumped from another plane, survived after falling onto the tail of the single-engine Piper. Authorities said he was free-falling and hit the plane at about 7,500 feet.

"It damaged it so severely that it went into a tailspin and never pulled out, just struck the ground," said Mary Culver, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane's passengers were Christina Park, 18, of Auburn, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student; Jonas Klein, 18, of Boston, also an MIT student; and Jean Kimball, 45, of Pine Plains, N.Y., according to Trooper William Pinkes of the Massachusetts State Police. The pilot was Elliot Klein, 49, of Rhinebeck, N.Y, father of Jonas.

Park, a 1992 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way, was a sophomore biology major at MIT. She was returning to the university from a trip to New York, said her mother, Cecilia Park.

Christina Park was an outstanding student at Thomas Jefferson, said her high-school counselor, Dorothy Bahr. Bahr said Park was a National Merit Scholar and Washington State Scholar who excelled at math and science.

Cecilia Park said her daughter was working hard at MIT and wanted to be a doctor.

"I was always happy with her," she said. "I never had to talk

about homework. She was a very responsible girl."

Cecilia Park said her daughter talked about joining the Peace Corps and working for other international public-service organizations.

"She said, `I study very hard, but I don't want to do this just for myself only,' " her mother said. "She said, `I want to give my knowledge to others who need it.' "

Christina Park, who has a younger sister at Thomas Jefferson, had plane reservations to return home to Auburn for Thanksgiving, said her mother. "But now she's gone."

Peters deployed his parachute after hitting the plane, authorities said. There were no radio transmissions from the plane after the collision.

Peters was in stable condition with a broken ankle in Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, said his wife, Joyce.

"All he keeps talking about is seeing that plane coming at him," she said. "He said he had just jumped and all of a sudden there it was." She said her husband had been skydiving about four months.

Dave Strickland, owner of Airborne Adventures, the skydiving operation, said a permanent warning is in effect within a three-mile radius of the airport.

"It's like a road sign saying `One Way Do Not Enter,' " Strickland said. "All I can think of is the pilot may have been off course and did not know his location."

The flight originated in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The plane crashed about one mile from Northampton Airport in a wooded area near the Connecticut River, said State Police Sgt. John Healy.

Seattle Times South bureau reporter Wayne Wurzer contributed to this report.