Father packs family into C336 to flee Ivan, disappeared, bodies found at crash site

On September 25, Kevin Bomback, an aircraft mechanic who worked for Federal Express, packed his family in a Cessna 336 (file photo) -- an early fixed-gear version of the well-known Skymaster -- and took off from Atmore Municipal Airport (AL) in an attempt to flee Hurricane Ivan. He didn't file a flight plan, and apparently thought he didn't need a weather briefing. What he had seen of the approaching storm was enough to make him leave, perhaps in too much of a hurry.

Neighbors and friends became concerned when there was no word from the family. The days passed and no one knew what had happened to the Bombacks. Their car was still at the airport days later, and the concerns turned to fears that they had not made it to wherever it is that Kevin wanted to take them.

The fears were confirmed when authorities found the wreck of the aircraft, as well as the bodies of Kevin, his wife Sheri, daughter Alicia, 17, and son Brent, 12, in a heavily wooded area near Magee (MS). The aircraft apparently went in nose first into the woods, and was discovered during a CAP search by observer Keith Riddle.

Col. Wilkes of the CAP thinks Bomback was trying to land at Magee's airport, just a mile north of the crash site. "We've flown over this area probably four or five times," Wilkes said. "I did a flyover Saturday and came up with nothing." Part of the problem finding the aircraft, though, was caused by Bomback himself. Because he did not file a flight plan, the ATC system did not know he was missing, and the search was not initiated until after tapes of radar information had been erased three days after the Bombacks left Alabama.

No ELT signal was detected, which would have also alerted authorities to the accident. "Normally, we would have gone out within a couple of hours," he said.

Riddle managed to locate the debris after his pilot flew closer to the tree tops in the areas. The tops some 300 feet from the crash site had been sheared, marking the spot at which the aircraft entered the forest. The only part of the wreckage that could be clearly distinguished was the tail.

Positive identification of the family's remains are pending an autopsy.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov