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Smoke from the crash site was visible from Doug Barnard
Parkway.
ANNETTE M. DROWLETTE/STAFF |
Husband, wife die when plane crashes
Pilot reported mechanical problems
Web posted
Monday, June 16, 2003
By
Preston Sparks and
Heidi Coryell Williams |
Staff Writers
Minutes before a small, twin-engine plane crashed
in the swamp surrounding Augusta Regional Airport on Monday, killing a local
aviator and his wife, Brian Fealko wished his friend Ed Johnson a safe
flight.
"I had said goodbye to Ed and told him, 'I hope you have a good flight,"'
said Mr. Fealko, a FedEx worker who frequents the airport as part of his
job.
Mr. Fealko, who decided to watch Mr. Johnson's takeoff on his lunch
break, witnessed the crash that followed.
"To talk to somebody and to lose them that quick, it's just hard to
grasp," he said.
The small, twin-engine plane - a Piper Navajo capable of seating
six to eight people - crashed shortly after takeoff at 1:08 p.m.
Monday in Phinizy Swamp, the constructed wetlands that serve the city's
Messerly Wastewater Treatment plant.
Mr. Fealko said he watched as the plane left the runway and began
to worry when he noticed that the aircraft wasn't lifting to the necessary
altitude and began to veer right just before crashing.
"I said, 'I know he's not going to fly that low,"' he said. "He never
gained any more altitude, and the next thing I know he nose-dived into the
trees."
Mr. Johnson, 49, and his wife, Leslie, 43, of North Augusta, died in the
crash, which occurred about 200 yards into the swamp, said Richmond
County Deputy Coroner Mark Bowen. Their bodies will be sent to the state
crime lab in Atlanta today, he said.
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Members of the dive team ready an inflatable raft for a recovery
operation of a Piper Navajo airplane that crashed behind a sewage
plant. Emergency responders had to deal with waist-deep water in the
marshy swamp to get to the crash site.
ANNETTE M. DROWLETTE/STAFF
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The airport's crash team, the Augusta-Richmond County Fire
Department and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources were called to
respond to the incident after an alert signal went out to air-traffic
controllers indicating a crash.
Emergency responders reported some problems in reaching the plane,
in part because the crash site was waist-deep in the marshy swamps
surrounding the airport and the water treatment plant.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known and will be
investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National
Transportation Safety Board, said Kathryn Solee, a spokeswoman for Augusta
Regional.
Mark Andrews, the plant manager of the nearby Augusta Waste Water
Treatment Facility, said three of his workers were the first to respond to
the crash site and reported hearing the plane's engine sputter
just before the crash.
Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the FAA, said the plane is
registered to Gold Wing Transportation Inc., of Golden, Miss. Seconds after
takeoff, Ms. Bergen said, Mr. Johnson reported mechanical problems and
attempted to return the airplane when it went down about a quarter-mile
north of Augusta Regional.
Marcie Wilhelmi, a member of the Augusta Aviation Commission, said that
when the plane crashed, Mr. Johnson was ferrying a recently
acquired aircraft to Mississippi for maintenance.
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Ed Johnson
WRDW-TV/SPECIAL
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"He was a very capable pilot," she said. "He was certified on virtually
every general aviation aircraft."
Mr. Johnson, an Augusta Aviation flight instructor and the chairman of
the Boshears Memorial Fly-In, was a fixture in the flying community.
He was instrumental in turning the annual Daniel Field sky show into a
family-friendly event, helping to add amusement rides and entertainment and
lower ticket prices.
In July 2002, Mr. Johnson, along with his wife - who was a teacher at
North Augusta Elementary School - his brother and friend, opened the High
Flight Cafe, rejuvenating the airport-based restaurant after it had been
operated as a cafeteria-style food counter for years.
"Something like this is totally unexpected," said Larry Garner, the
president of the Augusta chapter of the Sport Aviation Experimental Aircraft
Association, of which Mr. Johnson was a member.
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Click on the map for a larger version.
STAFF
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He said Mr. Johnson was one of the most experienced pilots around.
"Anybody that knew Ed knew one thing: Ed loved to fly, and he was always
lighthearted about everything," Mr. Garner said. "He always had a joke about
everything. He was fun to be around, and a very experienced pilot."
Weather did not appear to have been a factor. The National Weather
Service in West Columbia, S.C., said no lightning strikes were reported in
the area during the time of the crash, although there were some
thunderstorms northeast of the airport at about 12:30 p.m.
Associated Press reports were used in this article.
Reach Preston Sparks or Heidi Coryell Williams at (706) 724-0851.
--From the Tuesday, June 17, 2003 printed
edition of the Augusta Chronicle |
