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The Morrisville & Preston ^ Published Wont!fy" I^wsmber 29,199^ REVISITING THE SCENE—Wreaths in memory of those who died in the crash of American Eagle Flight 3379 remain at the scene as the first anniversary of the crash ap* proaches. Clasping hands as they revisited the site where they assisted in rescue efforts are, left to right, Martin Howard, Lee Phillips and Sue Phillips, who rushed to the scene in their truck; Capt. David Ferrell, who served as operations officer for the Morrisville Volunteer Fire Department; and firefighters Karen French, Brian Baldwin and Bill Case. Remembering the fallen Eagle Anniversary of plane crash unites rescue workers, volunteers who were there By Ron Page S he walks slowly with the aid of crutches, her spine held rigid by steel rods. While the broken bones in her face have healed, Lauren Anderson still grimaces with pain. The I9-year-oId native of Stony Brook, N.Y., is a sopbomOTe at Elon College, but last year’s fiery crash of American Eagle Flight 3379 remains as vivid as her latest college class. In Crystal Valley, Ill., 36-year- old Ron Lewis, a businessman and father of a 13-year-old daughter, has difficulty talking publicly about the crash. He is still trying to cope with the massive injuries (lacerat^ liver, almost severed foot, col- l^sed right lung, bruised left lung) and mental anguish of the same dis aster that killed his friend Bill Peters, who was only inches away from where Lewis was found strapped in his seat Fifteen people died in that Dec. 13,1994, plane crash in a thick vir gin woodland on the outskirts of Morrisville, four miles from Raleigh-Durham International Air port It was 6:38 p.m. and foggy. IMAGES VIVID—Dale and Debbie Powell peruse the newspaper stories they clipped and saved from the coverage of the crash. The Morrisville couple was among a troupe of volunteers who helped the injured passengers. dark and drizzling when the sleek turboprop commuter plane on a flight from Greensboro suddenly swept down and aashed into the woods some 300 yards from Old Maynard and Koppers roads. Only five people survived what ranks as the Triangle’s worst aviation dis aster. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded last month that the pilot made several errors before the Jetstream Super 31 crashed. As the first anniversary of the tragedy approaches, those who were first on the scene reflect on their actions and the manner in which some 150 volunteers responded to a disaster that will remain forever in their minds. It all began with this telephone call: Dispatcher: "911 Emergency." Caller: "Yes, ma’am. This is David Stanley. I'm in Carpenter, North Carolina. There’s a plane down out here.” Dispatcher: "Where?" Caller "I don’t know how far away. I see smoke and flames." Stanley lives on Old Maynard Road, and minutes after making that initial call he and bis wife were in his pickup truck at the house of his neighbor, Edmond Badham. Badbam had heard the crash, but thought it might have been the tele vision he was watching. He grabbed a lantern and the three raced toward the flickering glow that could be seen only faintly through the fog and dense woods. Two more explosions followed. When Badham and Stanley reached the crash site after leaving Mrs. Stanley behind, they found the plane smoldering in two sections, the smell of jet fuel saturating the air, and one of the passengers walk- See RESCUERS, page 2 Witness shares diary of tragedy EDITOR’S NOTE: American Eagle Flight 3379 crashed near the Old Maynard Road home of Edmond Bad ham. Badham and his ne^hbor, David Stanley, were the first to arrive at the crash scene. Here is his personal ac count of what happened the night of Dec. 13,1994. By Edmond Badham It was a Tuesday night I was eating sup per and watching the CBS Evening News, "njere had just been a story about the letter bomber and they had a simulated explo sion. Next came a story about war in the breakaway republic of Russia. They had said something about the use of percussion grenades. I heard a loud pop. Since I live in a rural area four mdes fi’om the airport and I see many airplanes each day, I thought of a plane cra^. I got up and went to the window, looked out and didn’t see anything. I sat down to finish my'dinner. I thought that it must have been the TV but that die pop bad been awfully loud for that little TV. In less than two minutes David Stanley drove up with his wife in a pickup truck. I immediately had stomach butter flies which lasted the next two days. I knew something very serious was up. David said he thought that there had been a plane crash. We went to the back yard and we could see a small fire in the woods to the southeast. I ran back into the bouse to call 911.1 gave my name and ad dress and they asked how close I lived to David Stanley, who had already called in the first report. I said I was two doors down. I said we were headed to the site. I put on my shoes without tying th^, grabbed a lantern and headed through the woods with David. He said he didn’t know if he wanted K> see this. I expected the plane to be a two-seater, single-engine plane. I was expecting to find two dead and dismembered people. It was drizzling and about 40 degrees with some fog. The normally spacious hardwood forest became more dense as we approached and forded a creek. On the other side were pines of varying sizes. On the way to the fire I heard two explosions. We ran through the woods until we came upon a low area and momentarily lost sight of the fue. I told David to turn off his light so we could get a bearing. He did so and we were off again. In less than eight minutes we arrived at the site from the northwest. The first thing I noticed was a large piece of fuselage approximately eight feet high and 20 feet long. A man was standing beside it. This inaedibly lucky man bad walked away from the crash! I was hopeful. I asked him how he was. He didn’t answer. I asked him how many people were ot the plane. Again he didn’t answer. I suggested that he go off to the side and sit down, that help was on the way. I believe David helped him off to the See DIARY, page 2 Painful injury a reminder By Ron Page It was Tuesday, Dec. 13, 1994. What was planned to be a time of joy for the Anderson family in Stony Brook, N.Y., became a nightmare that may never end. Marie Anderson was on the Grand Central Parkway headed for LaGuardia Airport to pick up her daughter, Lauren, who was flying in for the Christmas holidays. She was happy. The famUy would be together to celebrate. The news bulletin on the car radio told of the crash of a com muter plane near Raleigh- Durham International Airport. It was a connecting flight to LaGuardia. Lauren, a freshman at Elon College, had a connect ing flight that originated in Greensboro, Mrs. Anderson thought Marie Anderson drove to LaGuardia and went directly to the front desk. She asked the staffer to check the computer for the flight The woman be hind the desk hadn’t heard of the crash, but the computer verified that American ^gle Flight 3379 had gone down in North Carolina just outside the airport. That was all. Meanwhile, Lauren’s father, Richard, a teacher at Newfield High School in Seldon, N.Y., had gone out of town as a chaperone for the basketball team. He was to pick up bis See PAINFUL, page 2 Citizens stick up for mayor By Bill Kirkland Morrisville’s Board of Com missioners received petitions Tues day night calling for the board to reverse a decision to convert the mayor’s office at Town Hall into a conference room. The petitions were signed by 134 people in siq>port of Mayor-Elect Margaret E. Broadwell, who will be sworn in Dec. 11. The board, in a 4 to 1 vote, eliminated the office for the mayor six days after Ms. BroadwelTs Nov. 7 election. The petitions did not refer to a second board action that took away the mayor’s authority to appoint committee mwnbers to the "Town Board as well as several state and regional panels. The board moved into closed ses sion shortly after the public ccm- ments portion of the meeting ended. Commissioner C.T. Mooe called for the closed session to dis cuss what he described as a "real estate transaction." The mayor’s office controversy never came up for discussion after the board returned, but as the meet ing neared an end, commissioners Moore, Leavy Barbee and Phyllis Newnam offered assurances of cooperation with the incoming mayor. Acting Mayor Billy Sauls, who was defemed in the mayor’s race by a margin of 158 to 125, did not mention the mayor-elect in bis comments. "I thiidc every member of the board has done the best job he or she could do," be said. Commissioner Bill Ufferman, who voted against both measures that would strip the mayor-elect of much of her power, left the meeting early because of a prior speaking commitment. After presenting the petitions to Town Attorney Frank Gray, Mor risville resident Clyde Williams called for Sauls’ resignation. Sauls has two years remaining in his term as a commissioner. "You have made these wild com ments that Ms. Broadwell has set the town back two years," Williams said as he faced Sauls. "You have set it back five years. You are no more use to the tovm. "It’s malice," Williams con tinued. "You were a sore loser. I would like for you to resign by Jan. 1." Three other residents spoke after Williams. Maik Wisner accused the com missioners of making Morrisville "look like a hick town." He said board action had created "negative public opinion and division within the town." Wisner asked the board to reconsider its decisions after Ms. Broadwell takes office. "That would help gain respea for our town government immensely com pared to what it is now," he said. Delores Scott, who has often been a spokesperson on issues affecting the Shiloh community, thanked the board for past support and asked for "assurance that you can work haimoniously among yourselves, with the mayor, and with the citizens. "Make sure what you do makes sense,” she said. "We are aware of what you’re doing and what you’re not doing." See CITIZENS, page 2 BULK RATE POSTAGE PAID MORRISVILLE, N.C. PERMIT *23 FIRST TO ARRIVE—After the American Eagle com muter flight crashed near the Old Maynard Road home of Edmond Badham, he and his neighbor, David Stanley, were the first to arrive at the crash site. Badham, who wrote a personal account of the tragedy, is shown as he points out several areas where he saw survivors. Delivered expressly to the residents of Morrisville and Preston
Morrisville and Preston Progress (Morrisville, N.C.)
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Nov. 29, 1995, edition 1
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