Angel Flight crash Saturday
jaj...@wnc0h0hm.bnr.ca
an engine failure Saturday evening, according to an article forwarded
to me from the Hickory, NC paper (the home town of the two pilots).
I have since heard from another source that one of the men has died
(I don't know which one), and the other is recovering.
Looks like pretty good reporting of two men who were injured while
doing what they love to do best - flying and helping others.
--
Allen Johnson PP-ASEL
We pray for one last landing, on the globe that gave us birth,
To rest our eyes on fleecy skies, and the cool green hills of Earth.
Robert Heinlein
Hickory men critically injured on medical mission
Experienced pilots crash into home, tree after engine fails on flight from
West Virginia
By MONTE MITCHELL
Record Staff Writer
Two Hickory aviators returning from a medical mission trip to West Virginia
are in critical condition after their plane crashed Saturday evening.
Claude "Pete" Parrish and Dr. Harry King flew a 3-year-old heart patient
safely home to Martinsburg, W.Va., Saturday evening, and then the
experienced pilots started the flight back to Hickory.
The engine failed on the trip home, and the private plane crashed into a
house and tree during an emergency landing.
Both men were in critical condition late Sunday afternoon in the intensive
care unit at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Va.
No one on the ground was injured.
"They had just left at 7:15 from Martinsburg and at 7:37, they radioed back
and advised the tower the engine had failed and they needed to make an
emergency landing," King's wife, Rosemary King, said Sunday afternoon from
the intensive care waiting room in Charlottesville.
Both Parrish, a 66-year-old retired Federal Aviation Administration
supervisor, and King, a 57-year-old ear, nose and throat specialist, have
decades of mission work experience as laymen.
"They take people who are sick and need help and fly them to where they need
to be," Rosemary King said. "They were doing what they like to do and that
is helping other people."
Parrish had flown three prior medical trips for Angel Flight of
Mid-Atlantic, operating through the North Carolina Baptist Men Aviation
Ministry, said Angel Flight spokesman Steve Patterson.
Rosemary King said the pair were in her husband's Cessna 206, a
single-engine plane which had recently been serviced.
"It had just been totally overhauled," she said. "Totally new. They said it
threw a rod. I don't know what happened there ... the engine stopped and
they were trying to make an emergency landing. They're both very
conservative fliers and both extremely careful."
FAA officials arrived at the scene Saturday and the National Transportation
Safety Board is following up on the investigation.
The 1971 Cessna went down near New Market, Va. Golfers who witnessed the
accident said they saw the plane banking, but didn't hear its motor running
before it hit the top of a house, said state police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell.
The plane then hit a large tree and nose-dived into a grassy open field, she
said, before flipping on its top and skidding to a stop. There was no fire.
The men were found strapped in their seats, upside down and unconscious.
They were taken to Rockingham Memorial Hospital and then flown by helicopter
to the University of Virginia Medical Center.
King was still unconscious Sunday afternoon. Parrish was sedated, said his
wife Mary Lou, but could respond to commands.
"He has a long way to go, but he can tell when somebody gives him an
instruction," she said. "The nurse said, 'Mr. Parrish wiggle your toes' and
he did. They told me he can hear me so I said 'I'm there.'"
Parrish has multiple broken bones in both legs and his back, and facial
fractures. His spinal cord didn't appear to be injured, his wife said, and
doctors were running more tests and taking X-rays.
Rosemary King said the men were fighting to live.
"Both of them at this time are in critical condition," she said at 4:30 p.m.
Sunday. "It's very touch and go."
Prayers were said for the two men throughout Hickory on Sunday.
"I trust that many of you will come to the altar and remember Pete and Harry
King and those families," said Dr. Dale Clark at Highland Baptist Church,
where Parrish sings in the choir.
Angel Flight spokesman Patterson said the North Carolina Baptist Men were
organizing a prayer chain, and so is Angel Flight.
"We're like a big family so it's a tragedy to us," he said. "We're just
praying that everything will be okay and that these gentlemen will be healed."
The national Angel Flight organization had flown more than 50,000 missions
without an accident, he said.
Parrish and King took off from Hickory on Saturday afternoon and flew to
Florence, S.C., Patterson said, meeting a plane that was coming from Miami.
Joining the two Hickory fliers were the 3-year-old heart patient, her father
and an aunt.
After the three were safely delivered to Martinsburg, about 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, King called his wife and told her that he and Parrish were
preparing for the trip home.
She's uncertain as to who was flying, she said. Parrish had been King's
flying instructor, she said, and both had years of flight experience. "They
made a nice team," she said. "They were doing what they wanted to be doing."
Julie Benton, Parrish's daughter, said the plane took off at 7:15 p.m. and
had been in the air for only 10 to 20 minutes when something went wrong.
"They were calling to the tower saying they needed to land in a hurry, their
engine was out," she said.
Her father is able to understand what people are saying to him, she said,
and she's thankful for that and that the medical part of the flight was
successful.
"That's something else to be thankful for," she said. "I hate that he and
Dr. King got hurt, but at least they got the little girl where she needed to
be before it happened."
Both Parrish and King have long histories of mission work.
Parrish has been on dozens of mission trips, often driving the church bus.
Before he became a doctor, King spent three years in Africa as a teacher.
Seeing the example of Mennonite professors in college made him want to
devote himself to a helping profession, whether it be teaching or medicine,
he said in a 1982 feature article in the Hickory Daily Record.
"I've tried to live like Christ in everything I do," he said then.
Mary Lou Parrish and Rosemary King were comforting each other Sunday in the
intensive care waiting room, able to see their husbands only for brief visits.
"We're in shock," Parrish said, but added both women are grateful for the prayers.
"That sure does mean a lot," she said. "It's what's carrying us through."
Rosemary King wanted to send a message to the people here who have prayed
for her husband and his friend.
"Thank you so much," she said. "There's been a tremendous outpouring of support."
--
Allen Johnson PP-ASEL
When once you have tasted flight, you will always walk with your eyes
turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always be.
--Leonardo da Vinci
Mark Kolber
>A Cessna 206 returning from an Angel Flight mission went down after
>an engine failure Saturday evening, according to an article forwarded
>to me from the Hickory, NC paper (the home town of the two pilots).
>I have since heard from another source that one of the men has died
>(I don't know which one), and the other is recovering.
Do you have a copy of the article you can forward to me? According to
this mornings's AvWeb email, the pilot died (although the preliminary
FAA report doesn't list the fatality)
-
Mark Kolber
APA, Denver, Colorado
www.midlifeflight.com
=========
email? replace "spamaway" with "mkolber
jaj...@wnc0h0hm.bnr.ca
The only article copy I have is the one I included in the original
post (it was forwarded to me by someone else). If you didn't get
it for some reason let me know and I can either re-post it or send
it to you directly.
Dave Butler
> The purpose of this email is to update you on the most recent developments
> regarding the incident that happened on Saturday.
> We received word this morning that one of the pilots, Dr. Harry King passed away
> yesterday. The reason for the delay in the email is we were waiting for the address
> of Funeral home and the arrangements for those wishing to express condolences
> to the family. Mr. Pete Parrish is still listed in critical condition and we will keep you
> updated as information becomes available.
> The NTSB is still conducting the investigation. Once we receive official word from
> the NTSB regarding the incident we will pass along the information.
> The arrangements are as follows:
> The family will receive friends at Bass Smith Funeral Home on May 17th from
> 7:00pm until 8:30pm The address for Bass Smith funeral Home is 334 Second
> Street NW, Hickory, NC 28601. Telephone# (828) 322-3015
> The Funeral will be May 18th at 4:00pm at the St. Stevens Lutheran Missouri
> Synod at 2304 Springs Road, Hickory N.C 28601 Phone # (828) 256-9865
Dave
--
I am not sincere, even when I say I am not. -Jules Renard
Dave Butler, software engineer 919-392-4367 dgbu...@cisco.com