Very Sad
No survivors in wreckage of jet found in Walker County
01/11/06
Email this story to a friend
From AP, staff reports
LaFAYETTE — The crash site of a missing Navy jet with four aviators aboard was found late Wednesday, more than 24 hours after it failed to make its scheduled landing at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida following a low-level bomb training mission, the Civil Air Patrol said.
All four crewmen were killed, said Dallas Battle, a detective with the Floyd County Police Department. Battle and three Georgia State Patrol troopers came upon the wreckage after it was spotted by a GSP helicopter.
Floyd County Sheriff Tim Burkhalter said the wreckage was found in southern Walker County between Lake Marvin and Villanow. Burkhalter said he could not confirm if the wreckage is that of a missing Navy jet, but moments later Joyner confirmed that it was the missing plane.
The search for a Navy jet and the four aviators on board covered a swath of Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama on Wednesday. Capt. Lee Little, a pilot in charge of Training Wing 6 based at Pensacola, said the search area stretched from Chattanooga to Montgomery over rugged terrain. It was scaled back substantially for the night.
The Navy T-39 Sabreliner took off from Chattanooga and was scheduled to arrive in Pensacola around 3 p.m. Tuesday, said Navy Lt. j.g. Sean Robertson, a public affairs officer. A Navy instructor, a Navy student, an Air Force student and a civilian contract pilot were on board, Robertson said. Their identities have not been released.
Authorities were responding to reported sightings of a plane in distress in an area from Walker County, just south of Chattanooga, Tenn., to Mineral Bluff, Ga., just south of the western tip of North Carolina. ``Since our first report from the Air Force, we have received calls from as far away as ... Mineral Bluff from residents claiming they saw a plane that appeared to be in trouble. And they believed it was a military aircraft,'' said Capt. Mike Mabrey of the Gilmer County, Ga., Sheriff's Department.
The aircraft was assigned to Training Squadron 86. It took off for a navigation training mission around 11 a.m. from Chattanooga. The last radio contact came at 11:20 a.m., Robertson said. ``All we know is the aircraft made contact, and we haven't heard anything since,'' he said. Little said the trainer jet was equipped with an emergency location transmitter, but the device was not transmitting. Officials did not know why. She said the plane would have been flying at between 500 and 1,000 feet.
``They are practicing running at a low level to a target and dropping the bombs,'' Little said. ``We don't carry bombs on these aircraft, but they are simulating what they would be doing in a tactical aircrat. She said there was no distress call before the plane disappeared. ``The mood on the base is difficult today. But we all understand the hazards of flying,'' she said. The Civil Air Patrol had aircraft over the search area, while sheriff's deputies and other emergency responders scoured the heavily wooded countrysides of north Georgia. Early search efforts were hampered by the rugged terrain and rainy weather.
Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said he had set up a command post in southern part of his county, directly south of Chattanooga, after a woman reported hearing a plane in distress and a farmer working in his field who said he heard what sounded like a crash. ``Two different people told us they had spotted what they thought was this plane flying low, I think somewhere about 12:30'' Tuesday afternoon, Wilson said. Searchers on the ground initially looked in an area that includes Carters Lake, about 60 miles north of Atlanta. The lake is mostly inside Gilmer County, but part of it extends into Murray County. Sabreliners are used for training navigators and other non-pilot air crew officers for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and foreign military services.
Our business is very unforgiving. My thoughts & prayers are with the crew & those affected.
Robbie
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
