Plane Goes Down Near USS Yorktown Gala

Two men out for an evening biplane ride to watch the sunset over Charleston Harbor were killed Wednesday evening, when their vintage Stearman biplane crashed into near Mount Pleasant, SC.

Authorities identified the victims as pilot as Jacob Brown, 61, and 76-year-old passenger James Powers. The 1942 Boeing A75N1 biplane (type shown at right) belonged to aerial tour operator Air Tiger, according to The Associated Press. The company is based at Charleston Executive Airport (JZI).

"This was just a leisurely flight in the afternoon to watch the sun go down," said Chris Cochran, one of the operators of Air Tiger.

The plane crashed two miles from the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, which is permanently moored at Patriot's Point near Mount Pleasant. A gala recognizing Congressional Medal of Honor recipients was underway on the ship at the time of the accident. The plane was not associated with the event.

The accident occurred shortly before 1900 EDT in clear conditions. One witness said the Stearman appeared to bank hard over to the right just before impacting a sandbar.

The NTSB and FAA are investigating.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 55718        Make/Model: A75N      Description: STEARMAN
  Date: 05/23/2007     Time: 2245

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: MOUNT PLEASANT   State: SC   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT CRASHED INTO WATER, MOUNT PLEASANT, SC.

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   2
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: CHS WX (VFR) 10013 10SM PEW036 23/14 3031

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: COLUMBIA, SC  (SO13)                  Entry date: 05/24/2007

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.atiger.net