Plane crash kills 2 from Natchez, Mississippi; probe ongoing
December 12, 2006
By Leah Rupp
Clarion Ledger, Clarion, Miss.
Officials expect to spend today and possibly Wednesday investigating a plane crash in Waco, Texas, that killed two Natchez, Miss., residents and a man from Louisiana on Sunday.
The twin-engine Cessna 310 went down around 7 p.m. in a plowed field about a mile off one of the runways, said Richard Howell, director of aviation at the Waco Regional Airport.
Flight plan records indicate Barr Brown, Jerry Roberts and pilot Justin Cardneaux were the only people aboard the plane that took off around 5 p.m. from the Natchez-Adams County Airport on Sunday, heading to Waco, said Clint Pomeroy, manager of the airport.
Brown and Cardneaux were from Natchez, and Roberts was from Vidalia, La., Pomeroy said.
"They were all locals," Pomeroy said Monday, adding that the airport had been flooded with phone calls from family and friends.
A team of officials from various groups, such as the plane manufacturer and aviation company, will be put together to investigate at the crash site.
The team will be led by National Transportation Safety Board investigator Leah Yeager, who was unavailable for comment Monday.
"Since the plane burned, that's obviously making it tougher," said Tom Vinger, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, who was a first-responder to the scene along with the Waco Fire Department.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the accident investigation, and the Federal Aviation Administration would not discuss the cause of the accident.
"What we try to do is look at everything that is feasibly possible that could have happened," said Bill Gamble, another investigator who works at the NTSB's South Central Region Aviation office with Yeager.
Gamble said the NTSB does not release accident scenarios. "We deal in facts," he said.
Usually, a final report is submitted within six months, Gamble said.
The National Transportation Safety Board will release a preliminary accident report on the plane crash within five days after the on-scene investigation is concluded. It could take up to 72 hours.
To view a copy of the preliminary report, visit www.ntsb.gov.
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