kenimpzoom
Rear Admiral
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2002
- Messages
- 4,807
My uncle just died. He was a pilot and crashed. Story Below.<br /><br />I remember him flying us back home from summer camp when I was about 10. He let me and my brother briefly take the wheel while in the air. He was the nicest guy you could ever meet. He was 60 and had been flying since he was very young. Was a professional pilot for all of his life. He will be really missed. He was in the Air Force for some time. His son just finished training in the Coast Guard, and was stationed in California. He also had a daughter. Yall keep them in their thoughts and prayers.<br /><br />My dad was pretty devistated too, we are all just in shock. My dad saw the news report about it on TV, then received the phone call later. Just horrible.<br /><br />Ken<br /><br />***********************************<br /><br />UPDATED: Piper Navajo plane crashes at senior citizens complex <br />Web Posted: 11/14/2004 09:15 PM CST <br /><br />Guillermo Contreras, Vincent T. Davis and Karisa King<br />San Antonio Express-News Staff Writers <br /><br /><br />A small twin-engine aircraft connected to a prominent San Antonio family fell short of landing at the San Antonio International Airport on Sunday, killing at least one person but narrowly missing many living in an apartment community for elderly residents. <br /><br /><br />Randy Jenkins, district fire chief and spokesman for the San Antonio Fire Department, said the plane was headed north into the airport when it crashed at about 5:30 p.m. at Walnut Manor, an apartment community for senior citizens at 3822 West Avenue. <br /><br /><br />Authorities were unable to confirm if the deceased was the plane's pilot. <br /><br /><br />Jenkins identified the aircraft as a private Piper Navajo that can carry up to eight people. <br /><br /><br />David S. Herrmann, vice president of the company that owns the plane, said up to five people, guests of his father, Ron Herrmann, may have been on the plane. Ron Herrmann owns Columbia 300 Inc., which manufactures bowling balls, and his guests are all from San Antonio, David Herrmann said. <br /><br /><br />"They were coming back from pheasant hunting in southwest Kansas," David Herrmann said. "I can't tell you who was on the plane. I know Ron Herrmann was not on the plane." <br /><br /><br />The plane was two to three miles from landing at Runway 3 of the San Antonio International Airport when air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane, according to John Clabes, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The pilot was approaching via an instrument landing. Rain had pelted San Antonio most of the Sunday and the weather remained cloudy into the night. <br /><br /><br />"(The pilot) pulled off the approach and we lost him on radar," Clabes said, adding he didn't yet know how many were on board the flight from Dodge City, Kansas. "There's one confirmed death, there may be others." <br /><br /><br />Safety data on the plane should be available today, Clabes said. <br /><br /><br />"It's a widely respected aircraft," he said. "It's been around for a long time." <br /><br /><br />Jenkins said a piece of a wing flew off the aircraft and knocked out a 3-foot by 5-foot hole in one of the apartment units but apparently missed an elderly woman inside. She was uninjured. <br /><br /><br />The apartments a few blocks north of Basse road did not catch fire, but the smoke from the plane was enough to prompt emergency crews to evacuate the community. <br /><br /><br />Two teens playing basketball at a church nearby said they saw the tail end of the aircraft after hearing what seemed like a sputter. <br /><br /><br />The aircraft appeared to hit a tree and then the teens lost sight of it, until they saw flames. <br /><br /><br />"It sounded like a car backfiring but way louder," said Aaron Alvarez, 15, one of the teens. "I was hoping everyone got out all right." <br /><br /><br />Assistant City Manager Rolando Bono saw the wreckage up close and said the plane was almost up against a building, but narrowly missed slamming straight into the complex. <br /><br /><br />The wreckage was nearly squeezed between a carport and the building, Bono said. The force of the impact was so tremendous, he said, that debris and mud splashed six to eight units, but not to the point where it broke windows. <br /><br /><br />"It was a horrible, horrible impact. It must have gone straight down," Bono said. "The potential is very scary to think about." <br /><br /><br />He said only the tail of the airplane was recognizable. <br /><br /><br />"Even the tail, you have to look twice," Bono said. "It's amazing more people didn't get hurt." <br /><br /><br />Federal Aviation Administration records show the airplane was registered to Dash Air Charter Inc. of San Antonio. David Herrmann said the plane is hangared at the San Antonio International Airport. <br /><br /><br />Mark Pecina, 30, was in a storeroom with his mother, the apartment manager, when he heard a boom outside. Pecina and his mother rushed into the parking lot to find that a small plane missed hitting a building by 6 feet. Looking into the wreckage, he said the only things he recognized were a pair of boots and a red flannel shirt. Seconds later flames flared from the debris, causing a small explosion and setting two cars afire. A part of the wing sheared off and cut through one of the apartments. The pair rushed into the complex to find scattered glass and mud splattered across the floor.
