thedrifter
05-04-07, 06:29 AM
May 4, 2007 - 12:00AM
Air show aircraft crashes
Sue Book
FREEDOM ENC
HAVELOCK - Most of a civilian airplane aiming for the Cherry Point Air Show ground exhibit is hanging from power lines near a power substation in scorched and still-smoldering woods following a 2:20 p.m. crash Thursday.
The pilot, a man in his 70s, was trapped in the US-2B Grumman Tracker aircraft and rescued by local and Cherry Point fire and rescue personnel.
Four of five passengers in the 1962-era anti-submarine prop plane walked away from the plane that hit a several poles and snagged a major power junction for Progress Energy and Carteret Craven Electric Cooperative.
The pilot was treated for serious injuries at the scene by Pitt County trauma and medical professionals in town for the air show. He was taken from the crash site in the woods behind Creek Street by Craven County Emergency Services Mobile Command Vehicle.
He was in stable but serious condition with several broken bones and head injuries, said Anne Wilkerson, trauma nurse and Pitt County outreach coordinator. He was transported by ambulance to Havelock Rescue Squad and airlifted by Cherry Point rescue helicopter Pedro to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville.
All were transported to area medical facilities.
The plane was flying west as it hit the power line running parallel to Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks from Havelock to Morehead City. The plane crashed in the woods behind a T-intersection of Railroad and Creek streets in the west end of Havelock, said Dianne Miller, Havelock public information coordinator.
"The (10-acre) area burned is as big as the Havelock Recreation complex on N.C. 101 and there are still a lot of hot spots," Miller said.
Railroad Street resident Inga Deroche did not hear the crash but went outside to see what was happening when her lights went out.
"There were at least four big pops of smoke," she said, as the last billowing black cloud came over the trees.
Her husband, Jim DeRoche, said what followed is "the most excitement we've had on this street in decades," as car after car passed through the neighborhood and media representatives staged news dispatches from the top of the dead-end street blocked off by law enforcement officers.
It is the second air show plane mishap in as many weeks. A fatal crash of a Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet at an April 21 air show near Beaufort, S.C., killed Lt. Cmdr. Kevin J. Davis during his first exhibition flight. That was the first air show fatality since 1999.
"We do all this mass casualty training in preparation for these events all the while knowing there is just a small chance it is going to happen," said Cpl. J.D. Hamel of Cherry Point Public Affairs. "When it comes it's such a surprise, but everybody is so prepared they get to the scene quickly."
The plane's collision with the lines caused lights to flicker from New Bern to Beaufort to Camp Lejeune. It caused power outages in one section of homes and to traffic signal on the east end of town and some as far as Morehead City. Power to some Internet servers in the area also was interrupted.
Thursday afternoon media flights scheduled in conjunction with today's air show were canceled, but the show will go on. The Cherry Point Cunningham Gate opens to the public at 5 p.m. today and flights beginning at 7 p.m.
A cause for Thursday's crash has not been released. The plane was slated to be part of a 30- to 40-plane flight museum exhibit.
Members of the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash.
Ellie
Air show aircraft crashes
Sue Book
FREEDOM ENC
HAVELOCK - Most of a civilian airplane aiming for the Cherry Point Air Show ground exhibit is hanging from power lines near a power substation in scorched and still-smoldering woods following a 2:20 p.m. crash Thursday.
The pilot, a man in his 70s, was trapped in the US-2B Grumman Tracker aircraft and rescued by local and Cherry Point fire and rescue personnel.
Four of five passengers in the 1962-era anti-submarine prop plane walked away from the plane that hit a several poles and snagged a major power junction for Progress Energy and Carteret Craven Electric Cooperative.
The pilot was treated for serious injuries at the scene by Pitt County trauma and medical professionals in town for the air show. He was taken from the crash site in the woods behind Creek Street by Craven County Emergency Services Mobile Command Vehicle.
He was in stable but serious condition with several broken bones and head injuries, said Anne Wilkerson, trauma nurse and Pitt County outreach coordinator. He was transported by ambulance to Havelock Rescue Squad and airlifted by Cherry Point rescue helicopter Pedro to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville.
All were transported to area medical facilities.
The plane was flying west as it hit the power line running parallel to Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks from Havelock to Morehead City. The plane crashed in the woods behind a T-intersection of Railroad and Creek streets in the west end of Havelock, said Dianne Miller, Havelock public information coordinator.
"The (10-acre) area burned is as big as the Havelock Recreation complex on N.C. 101 and there are still a lot of hot spots," Miller said.
Railroad Street resident Inga Deroche did not hear the crash but went outside to see what was happening when her lights went out.
"There were at least four big pops of smoke," she said, as the last billowing black cloud came over the trees.
Her husband, Jim DeRoche, said what followed is "the most excitement we've had on this street in decades," as car after car passed through the neighborhood and media representatives staged news dispatches from the top of the dead-end street blocked off by law enforcement officers.
It is the second air show plane mishap in as many weeks. A fatal crash of a Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet at an April 21 air show near Beaufort, S.C., killed Lt. Cmdr. Kevin J. Davis during his first exhibition flight. That was the first air show fatality since 1999.
"We do all this mass casualty training in preparation for these events all the while knowing there is just a small chance it is going to happen," said Cpl. J.D. Hamel of Cherry Point Public Affairs. "When it comes it's such a surprise, but everybody is so prepared they get to the scene quickly."
The plane's collision with the lines caused lights to flicker from New Bern to Beaufort to Camp Lejeune. It caused power outages in one section of homes and to traffic signal on the east end of town and some as far as Morehead City. Power to some Internet servers in the area also was interrupted.
Thursday afternoon media flights scheduled in conjunction with today's air show were canceled, but the show will go on. The Cherry Point Cunningham Gate opens to the public at 5 p.m. today and flights beginning at 7 p.m.
A cause for Thursday's crash has not been released. The plane was slated to be part of a 30- to 40-plane flight museum exhibit.
Members of the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash.
Ellie