what's going on man. we had two great pilots get killed in a matter of 2 days in separate light airplane crashes. fred smith a 30 year usairways veteran who was on the A330 clt. and allan robert eich a 737 captain also based in clt. may the rest in peace. and may god provide strengh to the family.
Two Usairways Pilots Get Killed In Plane Crashes
- Thread starter etops1
- Start date
slipnutwrench
Member
- Sep 5, 2002
- 51
- 6
Very sad news. Would anyone have a news link for further info ??
EyeInTheSky
Veteran
Very sad. God speed...
Man killed in crash had restored plane
Aviation was his whole life, his wife says
By James Romoser
JOURNAL REPORTER
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MOCKSVILLE
For Fred Smith, flying was many things: a hobby, a job, a boyhood dream, a lifelong passion.
Smith belonged in the air.
"He loved aviation. That was his whole life," said his wife, Rita.
For decades, he had flown all over the world for US Airways. But the crash that killed him was just a few miles away from his home.
On Saturday evening, Smith, 58, was flying a single-engine AT-6D plane - a vintage military plane he had just finished restoring - when it crashed into woods near the Yadkin-Davie county line.
Rescuers found Smith dead at the crash site, and his passenger, Todd Naylor, seriously injured. Naylor, 41, also of Mocksville, was in critical condition at Wake Forest Baptist University Medical Center after the crash. Naylor is the chief of the Farmington Volunteer Fire Department.
Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration inspected the wreckage yesterday morning.
According to Dale Trivette, the emergency-management coordinator for Yadkin County, it could be months before they determine what caused the crash.
Smith was known as an impeccable pilot. "That's just what he was. Fred was a great pilot and a great instructor," Rita Smith said. "Ever since he was maybe 3, he always had the intention of being a pilot."
He was a captain for US Airways who flew international flights, and he was one year away from retirement.
In his free time, he flew three small private planes, which he kept in a hangar on his property in Davie County. He used a small private airstrip nearby.
Smith's newest plane was the T-6, a training aircraft known as "the Pilot Maker" that was used during World War II.
Smith, with help from his friends, had taken eight years to assemble the plane by hand. On Saturday, he was having a party to celebrate its completion and take people up in it.
Beyond his passion for flying, friends and relatives said they will remember Smith for his generosity and love of his family.
He had four grown children and five grandchildren. The nicknames he gave to his grandchildren were famous in the family. Jake was "Jakester," Marley was "Motorboat," Mila was "Buster," Isaiah was "Shadow," and Hannah was "Sweet-tater."
The plane he was flying when he died also had a name. He called it "Miss Rita," after his wife.
• James Romoser can be reached at 727-7284 or at [email protected]
Man killed in crash had restored plane
Aviation was his whole life, his wife says
By James Romoser
JOURNAL REPORTER
>> a d v e r t i s e m e n t <<
>> w e b t o o l s <<
Print Story | Email Story | News Tip?
MOCKSVILLE
For Fred Smith, flying was many things: a hobby, a job, a boyhood dream, a lifelong passion.
Smith belonged in the air.
"He loved aviation. That was his whole life," said his wife, Rita.
For decades, he had flown all over the world for US Airways. But the crash that killed him was just a few miles away from his home.
On Saturday evening, Smith, 58, was flying a single-engine AT-6D plane - a vintage military plane he had just finished restoring - when it crashed into woods near the Yadkin-Davie county line.
Rescuers found Smith dead at the crash site, and his passenger, Todd Naylor, seriously injured. Naylor, 41, also of Mocksville, was in critical condition at Wake Forest Baptist University Medical Center after the crash. Naylor is the chief of the Farmington Volunteer Fire Department.
Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration inspected the wreckage yesterday morning.
According to Dale Trivette, the emergency-management coordinator for Yadkin County, it could be months before they determine what caused the crash.
Smith was known as an impeccable pilot. "That's just what he was. Fred was a great pilot and a great instructor," Rita Smith said. "Ever since he was maybe 3, he always had the intention of being a pilot."
He was a captain for US Airways who flew international flights, and he was one year away from retirement.
In his free time, he flew three small private planes, which he kept in a hangar on his property in Davie County. He used a small private airstrip nearby.
Smith's newest plane was the T-6, a training aircraft known as "the Pilot Maker" that was used during World War II.
Smith, with help from his friends, had taken eight years to assemble the plane by hand. On Saturday, he was having a party to celebrate its completion and take people up in it.
Beyond his passion for flying, friends and relatives said they will remember Smith for his generosity and love of his family.
He had four grown children and five grandchildren. The nicknames he gave to his grandchildren were famous in the family. Jake was "Jakester," Marley was "Motorboat," Mila was "Buster," Isaiah was "Shadow," and Hannah was "Sweet-tater."
The plane he was flying when he died also had a name. He called it "Miss Rita," after his wife.
• James Romoser can be reached at 727-7284 or at [email protected]
singh4us
Senior
From The Charlotte Observer at Charlotte.com
Posted on Tue, Oct. 18, 2005
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news...al/12929560.htm
Ft. Mill pilot dies in crash of ultralight
Body found in wrecked plane near power lines after electricity outage
KYTJA WEIR
Staff Writer
An ultralight aircraft crashed Monday afternoon in Lancaster County, S.C., killing the man at its helm.
Authorities learned of the crash because power failed in the area around 4 p.m.
When Duke Power employees followed the power lines into a remote area, they found the wreckage of an ultralight close to Locker Road near the N.C. border.
Allan Robert Eich, 50, of Fort Mill, S.C., was lying amid the wreckage. He had suffered head injuries, said Lancaster County Sheriff's Lt. Lee Blackmon, and died at the scene.
Authorities believe Eich crashed the single-person craft into the power lines around 4 p.m., when the electricity in the area failed. Then the plane fell from the wires to the ground.
Authorities were called to the scene just before 6 p.m., he said. The area is about a 30-minute walk into the woods, Blackmon said.
The Sheriff's Office is investigating the crash.
Eich had served as president of the Tara Plantation Home Owners Association, where he lived with his family. He also was an avid flier, displaying a photograph of a plane at the top of his personal Web site.
On the Web site, he recounted a near-death experience while flying, when at age 16, he took his first solo flight in a Cessna 150.
He wrote that he took the plane up and started to practice. But it started to whirl out of control.
"I had never seen a spin much less had any idea how to recover from one," he wrote of the 1971 incident.
"To put it mildly, I was in a lot of trouble. I was in a life or death situation and the death part was winning so I did the only thing that I could do," he wrote. "I cried out to the Lord, `God, please help me!' "
He survived, using what he called advice sent from God.
Eich went on to serve as a flight instructor at Kent State University, teaching new pilots how to safely escape such spins without relying on divine intervention.
- Oct 23, 2004
- 3
- 0
Fred Smith was a prince of a guy. Had a great knack for remembering names and was always in a good mood no matter how dreary things looked at U. He was one of the good ones.
Ivan
Ivan
singh4us
Senior
Airmen's Prayer
http://ingeb.org/spiritua/pilotdiv.html
Melody - F/O Wishart Campbell, before 1943
W/C G. L. Creed
Pilot divine, and Lord of all on high
Thine are the starry squadrons of the sky!
Lead us whose wings for freedoms sake now soar,
Into our hearts thy faith and courage pour
Oh hear our prayer.
Set Thou our course whose trust is laid in Thee!
Oh Thou who chartest all eternity!
Through cloud and sunshine, through darkest night
Guide Thou our wings who battle for the right
Oh hear our prayer.
Father and friend, in whose almighty name
We dedicate our lives to freedom's flame,
Bless now our wings as on through space we wend.
Bless us who to Thy care our souls commend
Oh hear our prayer.
GOD SPEED
http://ingeb.org/spiritua/pilotdiv.html
Melody - F/O Wishart Campbell, before 1943
W/C G. L. Creed
Pilot divine, and Lord of all on high
Thine are the starry squadrons of the sky!
Lead us whose wings for freedoms sake now soar,
Into our hearts thy faith and courage pour
Oh hear our prayer.
Set Thou our course whose trust is laid in Thee!
Oh Thou who chartest all eternity!
Through cloud and sunshine, through darkest night
Guide Thou our wings who battle for the right
Oh hear our prayer.
Father and friend, in whose almighty name
We dedicate our lives to freedom's flame,
Bless now our wings as on through space we wend.
Bless us who to Thy care our souls commend
Oh hear our prayer.
GOD SPEED
singh4us
Senior
From The Hub Wednesday, October 19, 2005
US AIRWAYS MOURNS PILOT DEATHS
US Airways deeply regrets the loss this week of two veteran Charlotte-based pilots, both of whom died in separate private aircraft accidents.
Captain Allan Robert Eich, a 737 pilot, died Monday, Oct. 17, at the age of 50. He served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force and was employed for 21 years as a US Airways flight instructor. A memorial service will be held at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 20, at MorningStar Ministries, 9700 Regent Parkway in Fort Mill, SC. A second memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, at Victory Assembly of God, 15 Bedford Road, Lowellville, Ohio.
Captain Fred A. Smith, an A330 pilot, died at the age of 58 on Saturday, Oct. 15, while flying his recently restored T-6 aircraft. He served in the Army during the Vietnam War and was employed by Piedmont Airlines and US Airways for a total of 30 years. A funeral service was scheduled for today at Green Meadows Baptist Church in Mocksville, NC, followed by burial in Clemmons, N.C.
US AIRWAYS MOURNS PILOT DEATHS
US Airways deeply regrets the loss this week of two veteran Charlotte-based pilots, both of whom died in separate private aircraft accidents.
Captain Allan Robert Eich, a 737 pilot, died Monday, Oct. 17, at the age of 50. He served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force and was employed for 21 years as a US Airways flight instructor. A memorial service will be held at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 20, at MorningStar Ministries, 9700 Regent Parkway in Fort Mill, SC. A second memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, at Victory Assembly of God, 15 Bedford Road, Lowellville, Ohio.
Captain Fred A. Smith, an A330 pilot, died at the age of 58 on Saturday, Oct. 15, while flying his recently restored T-6 aircraft. He served in the Army during the Vietnam War and was employed by Piedmont Airlines and US Airways for a total of 30 years. A funeral service was scheduled for today at Green Meadows Baptist Church in Mocksville, NC, followed by burial in Clemmons, N.C.
