Daily ®ar Heel
©
818 105 yean of editorial freedom
ffie students and the University
community since 1893
Victims identified in crash; cause unknown
■ Aviation officials said the
plane appeared to be in
flight-worthy condition.
BY HUGH PRESSLEY
STAFF WRITER
Local officials have identified the
passengers of Wednesday’s late-night
plane crash at Horace Williams Airport,
but the cause of the accident is still
unknown.
Dean Essig, 37; David Allen Powell,
37, both from Illinois, and Christopher
Volley, 34 (no hometown available), suf
fered injuries in the crash.
The last known stop on the flight was
in Montgomery County, Ky.
Essig, the pilot, did have a valid
pilot’s license, officials said.
The single-engine Cessna 195 plane
crashed at 8:05 p.m. while landing on
the northwest end of the airport and
flipped after it hit the ground.
Shortly after the crash a neighbor
called 911, and the three men were
taken to the emergency room at UNC
Hospitals, said Lt. Angela Carmon,
University Police crime prevention offi
cer.
She said officials from the Chapel
Hill Fire Department had to cut
through the wreckage of the plane to
rescue the victims.
As of Thursday afternoon, Essig and
Powell were listed in fair condition,
while Volny remained in serious condi
tion, according to a press release.
Lauren Vesilind, a public relations
receptionist at UNC Hospitals, said
Essig’s condition had improved from
serious to fair Thursday. Doctors also
upgraded Volny’s condition from criti
cal to serious.
Officials from the Federal Aviation
Administration and the National
Transportation Safety Board said they
did not know what caused the plane
crash.
However they did not suspect a
mechanical error or safety problems
with the airport.
The 300-horsepower, tail-loader air
plane was a rare vintage aircraft from
the 19405, said Rick Stockton, an FAA
air operations inspector.
“If the plane was built in 1949 and it
is still flying, then it is a good aircraft,”
he said.
“Although the plane was a tail loader,
it’s not much different than flying other
planes.”
A tail-loader plane has a wheel on
the back of its tail, Stockton said.
The Cessna had a Feb. 9,1998, reg-
See CRASH, Page 5
Cross-country
trek to help
local center
■ Michelle Dieter’s biking
will benefit branches of the
American Lung Association.
BY MARY-KATHRYN CRAFT
FEATURES EDITOR
Michelle Dieter spends all her week
ends biking around Chapel Hill, but as
she conquers the town’s roads and trails,
another journey lingers in the back of
her mind.
Dieter plans to ride from
Washington, D.C., to Seattle this sum
mer. A pharmacy student
one of over 1,100 riders from around
the United States who will put the pedal
to the medal in the GITs Big Ride
Across America to benefit the
American Lung Association.
“I have asthma, and it’s for a good
cause,” Dieter said explaining why she
decided to attempt the 3,000-mile treck.
“I graduate in May, and 1 thought it’s
now or never,” she added with a smile.
Dieter, a member of the UNC diving
team for three years, said she found she
had too much time on her hands this
See DIETER, Page 5
“ ' ~
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DTH/JON GARDINER
A member of the Chapel Hill Fire Department escorts the remains of the Cessna 195 plane that crashed while landing at Horace Williams Airport on
Wednesday. The Federal Aviation Administration completed its inspection of the accident scene Thursday morning.
The crash: a detailed look
v y Shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday, a
\ . , single-engine Cessna 195 plane
\ crashed on the northwest end of
1 Horace Williams Airport. The plane's
f g \ three passengers were taken to UNC
I % j Hospitals.
I 2/ Enlarged airport view
\ Han Bar n
i 9lu £
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■■ I JV* / / Directlon of
DTH/JAKE ZAKNEGAJ AND BHIANNA BUSCH
LOOK OUT BELOW
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RV'MI
DTH/DAVID SANDIES
Patrick Lundergan, a professional mountain-bike racer from Greensboro,
prepares to jump off a ledge in front of Greenlaw Hall.
Friday, February 27,1998
Volume 106, Inue 5
I learn hy going where I have to go.
Theodore Roethke
University plans review
of airport-safety policies
■ Neighbors reported the
crash to police after they
heard cries for help.
BY PAUL HOBSON
STAFF WRITER
The University plans to evaluate safe
ty procedures at Horace Williams
Airport after a plane crash Wednesday
night injured three passengers.
Executive Vice Chancellor Elson
Floyd stated Thursday in a press release
that the University, which owns the air
port, planned to investigate the reasons
behind the crash.
“Any accident involving an aircraft at
the Horace Williams Airport gives the
University reason to review its proce
dures and protocol,” he said. “We will
begin that immediately.”
Student parking posing
problem for Chapel Hill
BY CAROL ADAMSON
STAFF WRITER
Crime at UNC and around Chapel
Hill could mean red lights for students
looking for a safe place to park.
With parking on campus severely
limited, students often turn to town
operated park-and-ride lots.
However, a
string of break-ins,
most recently
three weeks ago,
at the Southern
Village park-and
ride lot might indi
cate that off-cam
pus parking is not
the safest alterna
tive.
Carolyn
Elfland, associate
vice chancellor for
auxiliary services,
said the demand
for student park
ing spaces on
campus was high
Chapel Hill Town
Council Member
JOECAPOWSKi
said the town should
be responsible for
informing owners
about car break-ins.
and that many of the available spaces
were not attractive to students.
“There are definitely not as many
(campus) spaces available for student
parking as there are students who desire
parking spaces,” Elfland said. “We have
space, just not where people want to
park.”
But Elfland said the University had
made efforts to provide alternatives to
campus parking.
The plane, a single-engine Cessna
195, crashed at the northwest end of the
airport at 8:05 p.m.
The passengers were rescued from
the plane and taken to UNC Hospitals
after neighbors reported hearing cries
for help. On Thursday, two passengers
were liked in fair condition and one was
listed in serious condition.
There are no known eyewitnesses to
the crash, and the passengers could not
answer questions, so the cause of the
crash is still undetermined.
The airport’s operations policy states
that aircraft can use the airport for nor
mal operations between 6 a.m. and 9
p.m.
The airport closes at 6 p.m. and offi
cials mm off the runway lights at that
time.
Approaching planes must manually
See AIRPORT, Page 5
“There are park-and-ride lots
designed specifically for students who
don’t use their cars every day.” she said.
“The town also has park-and-ride
lots.”
But the problem of crime in park-and
ride lots could be attributed to the lack
of campus parking, said Scott
McClellan, administrative analyst for
Chapel Hill Transit.
He said the increase in student park
ing off campus created the need for
parking fees and contributed to the
crime in the park-and-ride lots.
“Several years ago we noted cars
were being stored in the N.C. 54 lot,” he
said.
“Initially, this was not a problem.
There was enough space to accommo
date commuters in addition to the cars
being stored, but word spread quickly
about the free parking.
“Once the lot started filling up and
we could not handle all our intended
customers, we established the permitting
process to control the cars being stored.
Commuters still park for free, only the
people storing their cars are charged a
fee, ranging between $lO to S2O per
month.”
McClellan said the car break-ins
began when cars started being stored in
the lots.
In the last 12 months, Chapel Hill
Transit has spent SIBO,OOO on improv
ing lighting and installing security cam
eras in the Southern Village and N.C. 54
See TRANSIT, Page 5
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Rivals ready
for round 2
of showdown
■ Duke and UNC will play
for the No. 1 seed in next
week’s ACC Tournament.
BY AARON BEARD
SPORTS EDITOR
Only 22 days ago, North Carolina
dispatched of Duke in Chapel Hill.
Now it’s Durham’s turn to host col
lege basketball’s throwdown of the year,
as No. 3 UNC travels to Cameron
Indoor Stadium to
face the top
ranked Blue
Devils at 2 p.m.
Saturday.
The winner will
claim the top seed
in next week’s
ACC Tournament
in Greensboro.
Duke can win the
title outright by
defeating the Tar
Heels, while UNC
can force a tie by
sweeping the Blue
Devils.
“I think both of
these teams have
UNC forward
ANTAWN JAMISON
blasted Duke for 35
points on W-of-20
shooting and pulled
down 11 rebounds
in the first meeting.
been in a lot of big games,” UNC coach
Bill Guthridge said. “I don’t know if
there’s more pressure on any team or if
it will be a factor.”
If the chance to win the ACC regu
lar-season title doesn’t motivate the Blue
Devils (26-2, 14-1 in the ACC), then
memories of a 97-73 thumping at the
hands of the Tar Heels on Feb. 5 will.
Since the defeat, Duke has won six
straight by an average of 20.7 points.
“They’ll come out on all cylinders
just for the fact that we beat them (at
UNC),” North Carolina guard
Shammond Williams said."... They’ll
come out with a big punch. That’s the
biggest thing we’ll have to do, being able
to withstand that first punch.”
In that streak, Duke’s tandem of
guard Trajan Langdon and forward
Roshown McLeod has run roughshod
over the opposition, combining to aver
age 39.5 points during that stretch.
But it’s the return of freshman center
Elton Brand that has Durham buzzing.
Brand, sidelined since December
with a foot injury, returned to action
against Sunday against UCLA, adding
14 points and seven rebounds in 16 min-
See DUKE, Page 5
INSIDE
March Madness begins
The basketball
tournament season
kicks off today with
the ACC Women's
Basketball
Tournament. The
UNC women will match up against
Virginia at noon. Page 7
Pulling the plug
New innovations in wireless
communication technology make it
even easier and more affordable to
keep in touch with the world. Page 4
Make an impact
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mittee application at the Union front desk, the
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♦
Today's weather
■
Showers;
High 60s
This weekend: Chance of
rain: mid 60s