Mon, Jun 15, 2009
11-Year-Old Boy Among The Casualties
Authorities say three people are apparently dead after a 1969
Piper Cherokee crashed into the Mohawk River on takeoff from Mohawk
Valley Airport Sunday. According to various media reports,
witnesses say the airplane "bounded down the runway", struggled to
get into the air, then "lost power" before crashing 'tail-first'
into the river. Nearby fishermen tried to get the plane's door open
as it sank, and then marked the spot where it went down to assist
rescue divers.
One of the apparent victims is real estate developer George
Kolath, who holds a student pilots license. The plane was
registered to "Kolath Airlines LLC".
Witnesses told the Albany, New York Times Union that they had
seen three people, two men and a boy, get into the airplane after
looking at photographs at the Hen House Restaurant at the airport.
They had talked about the great flying conditions. But the plane
had experienced difficulty landing at Mohawk Valley. Pilot Skip
Ryan, who was waiting to take off and saw the crash, told the paper
he had seen the plane miss two approaches before finally landing
earlier that day. "It didn't look good from the takeoff, but I
thought he would abort the start," he said. Another witness,
Matthew Siegmann, said the airplane "didn't have enough speed at
takeoff."
Authorities are withholding the names of the victims for now.
Rescue divers pulled the bodies of a 52-year-old man and an
11-year-old boy from the plane, which sank in 20-30 feet of water.
The third victim, thought to be Kolath, has yet to be recovered.
FAA and NTSB officials are expected to begin their investigations
Monday.
More News
Aero Linx: JAARS Nearly 1.5 billion people, using more than 5,500 languages, do not have a full Bible in their first language. Many of these people live in the most remote parts of>[...]
'Airplane Bounced Twice On The Grass Runway, Resulting In The Nose Wheel Separating From The Airplane...' Analysis: The pilot reported, “upon touchdown, the plane jumped back>[...]
"Burt is best known to the public for his historic designs of SpaceShipOne, Voyager, and GlobalFlyer, but for EAA members and aviation aficionados, his unique concepts began more t>[...]
"Polaris Dawn, the first of the program’s three human spaceflight missions, is targeted to launch to orbit no earlier than summer 2024. During the five-day mission, the crew >[...]
There Are SO Many Ways To Get YOUR Aero-News! It’s been a while since we have reminded everyone about all the ways we offer your daily dose of aviation news on-the-go...so he>[...]