After Plane Crash, Trail Users Witness Public Cleanup of Private Tragedy

Joggers and bikers on the Monarch Chesterfield Levee Trail were witness to an eerie sight Sunday afternoon as crews worked to clear the wreckage from a tragic plane crash the day before.

Dr. Shiv Patil, 41, and his 7-year-old daughter, Sonia, both of Chesterfield, died Saturday morning when their small plane went down in the Howell Island Conservation area in Wildwood shortly after leaving Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield.

The wooded conservation area is bordered on its east side by the multi-purpose recreation trail. A truck with a trailer was parked on the path, waiting for a front-end loader that soon emerged from the nearby forest carrying the shattered tail end of the aircraft.

The exact cause of the crash is unknown and will likely remain so until officials with the National Traffic Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration finish their investigations. However, the pain the accident has caused to their friends and family is all too stark.

Speaking to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Patil friends and family described him as a devoted doctor and father. He is survived by a wife, Puja, 36 and a 9-year-old daughter.

His cousin, Dr. Virender S. Saini said he had never “met a better person than him,” explaining that he kept his door always open for “anybody, everybody.”

Patil was an experienced pilot and passionate about flying, Saini said, adding that he enjoyed adventurous activities, such as skydiving.  

The article also drew comments from several people who knew Patil personally. Patil was a doctor specializing in internal medicine with affiliations at SSM St Joseph Health Center-Wentzville, SSM St Joseph Hospital West, St Joseph Medical Center and St. Lukes Hospital of Kansas City.

A co-worker, Jan Wolfe Calcaterra, wrote “he was a kind physician and always treated everyone with respect.”