Brutal Stories Like This Are Getting Harder To Write...

We're getting horrific details of a Cessna 320 fatality, from over the weekend, that took the lives of a senior Naval Officer and his three daughters. Working such stories is getting harder and harder -- and there is just so many times you can use the word "tragic" or an equivalent...

Cdr. Luther H. Hook III, 44, the Executive Officer for NAS Fallon, was killed Friday when his 1966 C-320 went down about a mile from the Fallon Airport. The aircraft had flown in Fresno, CA, and was carrying Hook's three daughters, Kaitlyn (15); Rachel (12); and Mackenzie (9), who lived in Clovis, CA, with his ex-wife.

Witnesses to the accident claimed that the aircraft was seen to be flying 'erratically' shortly before it went down and burned on impact. This was a regular trip for Hook, who reportedly flew back and forth to Fresno regularly.

Hook was a 1986 graduate of the Naval Academy, and a decorated pilot with over 2700 hours in the F/A-18 Hornet, mostly off the USS Kitty Hawk.

Conditions, at the time of the accident, were reported as VFR but with winds gusting as high as 32-45 knots, according to a number of reporting points.

NOTIFICATION REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
750 AM PDT SAT MAY 23 2009
FROM: RCOLLINS METEOROLOGIST WFO RENO, NV

SUBJECT: AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT, FALLON, NV, 05/23/2009

EVENT: TWIN-ENGINE CESSNA CRASHED NEAR THE FALLON MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AT 730 PM PDT FRIDAY EVENING. THE CHURCHILL COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE REPORTED THE CRASH SITE TO BE 3/4 TO 1 MILE  EAST OF THE AIRPORT. FOUR FATALITIES. FLIGHT WAS EN ROUTE FROM FRESNO CA (FAT) TO FALLON NV (FLX). NO OTHER INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME.

INCIDENT TIME...0230 UTC
PILOT...........UNKNOWN
ACFT TYPE.......C320
REG NMBR........N320KP

FMI: www.ntsb.gov