By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – State Representative and candidate for Missouri Auditor Jack Jackson was piloting a plane in Camdenton Tuesday night that hit a deer just as it was about to take off.
Jackson, his wife Arlene, campaign manager Paul Brown and political director Michelle Cote were aboard and are okay. The plane skidded about 2,000 feet alongside the runway. "It was quite a ride," Jackson said this (Wed.) morning. The plane was traveling about 130 mph when it hit the deer, which struck the plane's nose, then slid under the left landing gear.
Jackson, a Republican from Wildwood, says something broke with the landing gear because the plane then made a sudden lurch to the left, which is how it veered off the runway. "It was not a very pleasant feeling at the time, that's for sure."
Jackson says he then worked to make sure the plane didn't tip over or catch fire. He's one of five Republicans, two Democrats, and a Libertarian running for Auditor this year.