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Published July 02. 2003 6:01AM

Plane's wreckage will be moved to Georgia today


By Lisa Rogers
Times Staff Writer
The wreckage of a small jet that crashed on takeoff Monday from the Gadsden Municipal Airport is expected to be moved today to a secure hangar in Georgia for an extensive examination, a spokeswoman at the National Transportation Safety Board said.

A preliminary report of the cause of the crash of the L-39 Albatross could be released in a few days, but it could take months to make an official determination, said Cathy Gagne, spokeswoman for the NTSB.

Witnesses said a flock of birds hit the plane.

Elmo Hahn, 54, a developer and well-known pilot in Muskegon, Mich., died soon after the crash.

He was lifting off in his Czech-built fighter-trainer and ejected from the plane, but did not survive.

Hahn was returning to Muskegon after filming a segment about the L-39 Albatross for CNN, said R.H. Beavers of International Jets Inc., based at the Gadsden Municipal Airport.

International Jets restores and sells old military aircraft.

The company specializes in the Czech-made L-39, a two-seat Eastern Bloc jet trainer still used by the Russian Air Force.

Beavers said he had known Hahn for 15 years.

Beavers was being interviewed by a CNN crew at the International Jets hangar when they heard the crash.

Both he and the CNN crew were shaken, Beavers said. Beavers said he is not sure what will happen with the segment.

Hahn had flown an L-39 for 15 years, logging 10,000 flight hours, Beavers said. He was also a flight instructor who taught more than 100 pilots about the L-39 over the last five years at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Hahn was involved with the Muskegon Air Fair from its beginnings 20 years ago, flying in all but a few of the shows, the Muskegon Chronicle reported.

Hahn flew his World War II-vintage P-51 Mustang at the Air Fair and later the L-39 Albatross jet he was flying on Monday.

Hahn had performed at air shows around the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, the Cayman Islands and the Bermuda Islands.

He was scheduled to perform rolls, loops and other maneuvers at the Porter County (Ind.) Heritage Air Show in August.

Hahn was active in the Wings of Mercy program, both in raising money for the program that carries patients to hospitals and using his plane for mercy flights, the Chronicle reported.

Hahn had only recently qualified his L-39 to compete at the upcoming Reno (Nev.) Air Races.

As a developer, Hahn's most recent project was the Stonegate Golf Club and residential development in Cedar Creek Township near Holton, just outside Muskegon.

Along with other investors, Hahn was developing the 550-acre site, which incorporated large home lots and an 18-hole golf course, after starting small in the real estate business 30 years ago, the Chronicle reported.

Hahn had been in Gadsden for the CNN filming before beginning the one hour and 40-minute flight home.

International Jets mechanic Richard Cline had watched the takeoff from outside the company's hangar at the airport and heard an unusual sound and saw the birds just as the plane was gaining altitude.

Cline heard the engine sputter and watched as Hahn apparently tried to pull the throttle back, but lost speed. The plane banked out of control to the left and Hahn ejected from the plane.

Hahn's parachute opened but because he had ejected sideways he hit the ground quickly.

He was still alive when Cline and Joe Brand, another mechanic and an owner of International Jets, reached him, but he died several minutes later at the hospital.

The impact of the crash was evident by the large chunks of dirt out of the ground where the plane's seat hit near where Hahn landed, Gadsden Fire Chief Stephen Carroll said.

Wreckage was strewn quite a distance down the runway, and dark smoke billowed from the main part of the plane some 200 feet away. Most of the wreckage burned.

The airport was closed to air traffic after the crash.

The 300 gallons of fuel in the main part of the plane burned, leaving a strong odor similar to the smell of diesel.

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB arrived in Gadsden and the wreckage was moved to the International Jets hangar Tuesday and readied for the move to Griffin, Ga., today, Gagne said.

The plane's engine and frame will be closely examined.

The weather conditions, medical condition of the pilot and evidence of the birds or other foreign objects will be looked at, Gagne said.

"We'll basically rule out what didn't happen," she said.


 

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