At approximately 11:10 a.m. on October 15, 2010, Sergeant Joseph G. Schuengel, the pilot for Troop C, Weldon Spring, was fatally injured in a helicopter crash in St. Louis County. Sgt. Schuengel was returning to the Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Missouri, following a traffic enforcement operation in Jefferson County when the Bell Jet Ranger helicopter he was piloting crashed near the intersection of Clarkson and Kehrs Mill Road, in St. Louis County. Sgt. Schuengel was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sergeant Joseph G. Schuengel, 47, was the 29th member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol to die in the line of duty. He was survived by his mother and three sisters.