Reverend, Teenage Son Lost In Apparent CFIT Accident

An aircrew from the North Carolina Wing of the Civil Air Patrol located the wreckage of a missing single-engine Piper PA-32-260 from Florida about 0910 EDT May 13 near Cold Mountain, in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area along the Haywood and Transylvania County lines in western North Carolina.

The aircraft (file photo of type, shown below) departed from Rutherford County Airport in North Carolina about 0500 May 12, bound for North Little Rock Municipal Airport in Arkansas. When the aircraft was reported overdue, the US Air Force Rescue Coordination Center notified the North Carolina Wing to begin the search.

The search began May 12 and continued the following morning with three CAP aircraft and the assistance of a North Carolina Highway Patrol helicopter, as well as four ground teams from the North and South Carolina wings, members of the Cruso Fire Department and the Haywood County Rescue Squad.

A North Carolina Wing aircrew -- Lt. Col. Wally Courtney, pilot, and Capt. Gary Lux, mission observer -- in a CAP Cessna spotted the Piper on the ground in steep, rough terrain.

The CAP aircraft vectored the Highway Patrol helicopter into the site for low-level verification. Ground crews were then directed to the crash site and reported no survivors.

The occupants of the aircraft were identified as the Rev. Forrest Pollock and his 13-year-old son, Preston, both of Brandon, FL. The two departed Rutherford County on a VFR flight to Texas for a conference, according to local media reports.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.cap.gov