Oil fire likely cause of crash that killed five skydivers, pilot
     GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. - March 22, 1998 10:12 p.m. EST -- An oil fire
 apparently broke out aboard a small airplane shortly before it
 crashed and killed all six people aboard, the National
 Transportation Safety Board said Sunday.
     Investigators looking over wreckage from Saturday's crash found
 that oil had spilled on board and that a linking rod had broke in
 the Cessna 206's single engine, said Frank Gattolin, an NTSB air
 safety inspector from Chicago.
     Gattolin said it might take up to a year for the NTSB to release
 its final report.
     The plane took off from nearby Independence and was airborne
 about five minutes when pilot Dave Snyder radioed to report an elec-
 trical emergency.  Snyder attempted an emergency landing at East
 Kansas City Airport in Grain Valley, but the plane crashed and
 burned about 60 yards from the runway after clipping some nearby
 trees.
     Members of the skydiving club had spent the day making jumps.
     Each flight lasted about 15 to 20 minutes, said Terry Goode, an
 instructor for the club who said Snyder had been flying for at
 least 30 years.
     Witnesses reported seeing white smoke coming from the airplane,
 which would be consistent with an oil fire, Gattolin said. Black
 smoke seen as it tried to land would indicate that the fire had
 spread and was burning other materials, he said.
     Grain Valley is about 20 miles east of Kansas City along
 Interstate 70.
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