Story and Photos by Drew Moody
For the Hur Herald
drewmoody@verizon.net
Witnesses said they saw a puff of black smoke as the twin-engine
Cessna crashed in a heavily wooded area in rural Braxton County,
at about 10:35 a.m. Friday morning.
The plane crashed immediately after take-off.
The plane clipped tree-tops as it went down and falling parts
scorched the earth. The debris field was perhaps 50-square yards.
It ended it's descent just one-half mile from the Sutton Airport,
where it had just taken off, in the Elk River Wildlife Management
Area near the rifle range.
The nose of the twin-engine plane is in the foreground.
Other parts of the plane were scattered over a wide area.
In 17-years as manager of the wildlife area Mark Clarke said he'd
never seen a plane crash on "this side of the airport."
An elderly couple, believed to be from Iowa, perished. There is evidence
of severe
heat and fire at the scene.
Clarke said he saw the couple flying around the airport last night.
And two individuals waiting for Governor Manchin's arrival in Sutton
yesterday
visited with them.
The couple didn't plan on stopping in Sutton. Inclement weather
forced them to land earlier than they'd planned yesterday. After
spending the night at the Days Inn in Flatwoods, they took the
Hotel's shuttle to the airport with the intent of resuming their jouney.
What was the cabin-area of the plane may be the badly burned area to the left. The mid-right part that's flat on the top is the right engine and part of the wing. Pieces of the plane were caught in trees and scattered up to 50 yards from the main fuselage area, which was mostly destroyed.
West Virginia State Police, Department of Natural Resources,
EMS workers, and fireman were securing the scene as various media
decended into the area.
No one was allowed near the plane, and few made comments.
The plane was not visible due to the heavy foilage.
"We have to wait for the FAA to get here," was a common remark.
The plane was an older model twin engine plane, according to
an airport spokesman who declined to be identified.
A witness, who asked not to be identified, said the plane's wings
were dipping side-to-side and it looked like the pilot never gained
control of the plane once it became airborne.
Later in the evening Civil Air Patrol Major Debbie Boggs, of Charleston, came with members of the cadet program, after the Herald photographed the wreckage. They were called in by the FAA to secure the crash area until investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrive from Washington, D.C.
West Virginia State Police at the scene, TFC K.W. Huddleston
and Trp D. B. Gast, augmented security.
"The Civil Air Patrol has primary responsibility to control the
entrance," TFC Huddleston said.
There is no announced timeline for the investigation, as yet.
The Civil Air Patrol is an all-volunteer Air Force Auxillary.
Their primary duties are emergency services - including helping
to search for downed planes, managing cadet programs for
youth under 18, and offering aerospace education.
There are approximately 650 West Virginian members of
the Civil Air Patrol. Of that amount, 224 are cadets, Major
Boggs said.
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