Witnesses: Plane 'Disintegrated In Midair'
Eyewitnesses to the crash of a Forney F-1 Aircoupe near
Sebring, FL on Saturday said the plane suffered an in-flight
break-up as it flew over Golf Hammock Country Club, scattering
debris over the course and nearby homes.
Golf Hammock resident Mark McLean said, "The engine was making a
sputtering sound. Some small parts came off first, then the wing
came off and the tail shot off. It just disintegrated in
midair."
Lt. Jess Purvis of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said
the plane took off from the Avon Park airport sometime Saturday
morning and was seen "orbiting (Golf Hammock) when it came down."
The identity of the owner of the plane was not yet known, he
said.
Lt. Tim Lethbridge of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office
identified the victims as pilot James Weener, 70, of Sebring, and
passenger James Richer, 46, a resident of Golf Hammock. "Richer
volunteers to help at the retirement village and was being taken on
a pleasure airplane ride as a thank you," Lethbridge said.
Blair Wadick, who was playing golf with local resident Dale
Conrod, said, "We heard the engine revving back and forth, then the
whole plane came apart in the air." Conrod added, "It was literally
in pieces in the air."
"It looked like he got going too fast," Curtis Donovan said.
Donovan, on his rooftop hanging Christmas decorations at the time,
wasn't sure if he saw a parachute, but said if he did, it didn't
open. "We could see (one of the men) swinging his arms. I saw
something dragging behind him, but it never opened."
Lethbridge said Weener was a resident of the Sudan Interior
Mission, and according to his wife, had 50 years of flying
experience, the Harbor Point News-Sun reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National
Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: UNK
Make/Model: ERCO Description: 415
Ercoupe, Mooney A-2 Aircoupe, F-1 Ai
Date: 12/13/2008 Time: 1720
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Fatal Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: SEBRING State: FL Country:
US
DESCRIPTION
ERCOUPE, REGISTRATION UNKNOWN, CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN
CIRCUMSTANCES, THE TWO
PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, NEAR SEBRING,
FL
INJURY DATA Total
Fatal: 2
# Crew: 2 Fat:
2 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: NOT REPORTED
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase:
Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: ORLANDO, FL
(SO15)
Entry date: 12/15/2008