Thursday, June 19, 2003
One of those who died was to be married this summer.
JEANNETTE, Pa. (AP) -- The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating what caused the crash of a skydiving plane that killed four of five men aboard, including the pilot.
Witnesses told authorities they heard the Cessna 205's engine sputter and cut out before the crash about 1:15 p.m. Sunday at Greensburg-Jeannette Regional Airport.
The aircraft apparently clipped four trees when it crashed about 100 feet from the runway, said Ron Supancic, chief of the Claridge Volunteer Fire Department.
The plane, built in 1963 and designed for up to five passengers, was being used for a skydiving operation, said spokeswoman Arlene Salac of the Federal Aviation Administration. The Cessna had taken a skydiving flight earlier and was on its second flight when it crashed, authorities said.
Victims
The plane is registered to Charles E. Bryant of Greensburg, Salac said. Bryant, 61, was among the dead, Westmoreland County Coroner Kenneth A. Bacha said.
The coroner's office did not identify the pilot, a 52-year-old Pittsburgh man, because relatives had not been notified. But it said the other victims were David Ray, 49, of Seward and Terry Blanish, 52, of West Newton.
"My world has fallen apart," said Marla Goodlin, 48, who was to marry Blanish next summer in Switzerland. Blanish had 15 years of skydiving experience and was approaching 2,000 jumps, she said.
Blanish, the father of three, planned to spend Father's Day skydiving before meeting Goodlin for a boating trip, Goodlin said.
Bryant had operated Chuck Bryant's Skydive Bouquet in Greensburg for about 10 years and had the plane for about the same amount of time, his son said.
"That airplane was one of the best-maintained jump planes in the sport," Rodney Bryant said. The pilot was experienced and had made skydiving flights before, he said.
All died of blunt force trauma, Bacha said. An autopsy was to be performed on the pilot, as were toxicology tests required by the FAA, he said.
Witness report
Supancic, who lives about a quarter-mile from the airport, was getting ready to mow his lawn when he heard the plane and watched it trying to gain altitude. The engine didn't sound right, and Supancic saw the pilot bank left, then right, as if trying to return to the airport.
When he reached the scene, he saw the plane turned over, with a wing missing and a section of the fuselage torn off.
The four who died were still in the cabin, Supancic said.
The survivor, who had apparently been thrown from the plane, was found 10 to 15 feet from the wreckage. The extent of his injuries was not known Sunday night.
Authorities said the injured man was taken to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, but hospital officials would not confirm he was there.