Meantime, Small Graphics Company Journeys Onward, Despite Loss Of Leaders

Workers at a small graphics company in Pelzer, SC, say they'll muddle through, after the loss of both their bosses in the first fatal accident involving a Diamond DA40.

"We really haven’t missed a beat," said plant manager Chris Boyle, in an interview with Anderson Independent-Mail. "I know the company will survive. We are going to have to make Accu-Pad grow."

The Diamond DA-40 (file photo of type, above), carrying company owners Chip Moore and Brian Winstead, impacted power lines and trees, December 9th while on approach to the Donaldson Center Airport in heavy IFR conditions. In addition to Moore and Winstead, Moore's flight instructor, 43-year old Scott Burdick of Greer, SC, was also lost. The wreckage was discovered in a field about 10 miles south of the airport.

In its preliminary report, issued Monday, the NTSB wrote:

On December 9, 2004, at 1013 eastern standard time, a Diamond Aircraft DA40-180, N42SE, registered to and operated by Accupad, Inc., collided with a power line, trees and subsequently the ground while on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 05, at Donaldson Center Airport, in a residential area in Pelzer, South Carolina. The flight was being operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and instrument flight rules. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and an IFR flight plan was filed for the cross-country flight. The certified flight instructor (CFI), pilot rated passenger, and passenger received fatal injuries and the airplane was destroyed. The flight originated from Jacksonville, Florida, on December 9, 2004, at about 0800.

Upon arriving in the destination airport area, the Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Controller issued the pilot radar vectors to the final approach course for a landing on runway 05. As the airplane continued the approach, the air traffic controller observed the airplane descend below the minimum safe altitude of 2500 feet. Attempts by the air traffic controller to reestablish radio contact with the pilot were unsuccessful. At 1021, the local 911 operators received a telephone call, at which time the caller reported the downed airplane 9.4 nautical miles south of the airport.

Examination of the crash site revealed a damaged power line about 75 feet above the ground and that the tops of four trees were also damaged. The crash debris line was on a heading of 195-degrees magnetic, 100 feet wide and 450 feet long.

Moore, 52, and Winstead, 46, started Accu-Pad in 1991. The company is known for its logo-wear and for transferring graphics onto odd-shaped materials like golf balls, according to the Independent-Mail. They were returning home after a two-day business trip to Jacksonville, FL.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov