Plane crash at park fatal to five Tulsans
By Shannon Muchmore & Deon J. Hampton, Staff Writers
Tulsa World
9/6/2009

A small plane on its way to Dallas for the University of Oklahoma football
game crashed into Chandler Park amid foggy conditions Saturday morning,
killing all five Tulsans aboard.

Dr. Stephen Lester, his wife, Dana, their daughters 16-year-old Laura and
13-year-old Christina, and another doctor, Ken Veteto, all died at the
scene, family members said.

Their plane, a six-passenger Piper, left Jones Riverside Airport at 10:37
a.m. and crashed within minutes after it hit a cable coming from a tower in
the park, said Lt. George Brown of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

Witnesses said the conditions were extremely foggy, and the tower wasn't
visible from a distance. Stephen Lester, the owner of the plane, was
piloting, according to the OHP.

Two other children in the Lester family were not on the plane.

Stephen Lester's father, Tom, said his son and daughter-in-law graduated
from the University of Oklahoma.

Tom Lester said his two granddaughters attended Metro Christian Academy.

Veteto specialized in internal medicine, Tom Lester said.

"The Tulsa medical community has lost two fantastic doctors," he said.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, Tom Lester said.

He said his pastor recently finished a series of sermons about bad things
happening to good people.

"I'm a firm believer in God," said Tom Lester, a retired homicide
investigator in the Tulsa Police Department.

Tom Lester said his son was a good pilot and that "I've flown with him
several times."

As family and friends gathered at the Lesters' home Saturday evening, a
neighbor, Jack Graves, said Stephen Lester "couldn't wait to see the new
stadium" — Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, where OU played Brigham Young
University on Saturday.

Another neighbor, Denda Graves, said her daughter and one of the Lester
daughters were best friends.

"They lived by the golden rule," Graves said.

She said the family had recently come back from a two-week vacation in
Kenya.

The Lesters' plane came down southwest of a baseball field in Chandler
Park, leaving the ground charred as it skidded.

When the plane hit, its wings came off and its body flipped end-over-end
several times.

Two passengers were ejected between 500 and 600 feet upon impact, the
Highway Patrol reported.

Jeremy Richards and Mike Walker were at the park for a Wild Bunch Riders
and Zodiacs motorcycle rally when they heard the crash. Richards said it
sounded like a whip.

"I never heard that noise before," Richards said. "I turned around to look,
and I see something flying through the air. I realized later that it was a
body."

He and Walker, who were about 100 yards away, ran to the plane, the front
of which was engulfed in flames.

"Nobody was able to be saved," Richards said. "Nothing could be done."

Walker called 911 at 10:42 a.m.

Brown said federal accident investigators were headed to the scene
Saturday, and a portion of the park was expected to be closed through the
weekend.

Funeral services for members of the Lester family will be under the
direction of Floral Haven Funeral Home in Broken Arrow.

Anyone with events scheduled for Chandler Park should call County Parks
Director Richard Bales at 855-0754 for updates.