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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02 15 1990 Sebastian Wants FAA To IntercedeVERO BEACH INDIAN RIVER COUNTY 71st YEAR -NO. 148 FEBRUARY 15, 1990 64 PAGES, 5 SECTIONS 250 SINGLE COPY Similarities Mark 2nd Plane Crash By ADAMI CHRZAN Press -Journal Staff Writer A single -engine plane that glided toward Sebastian Municipal Airport after its engine stalled Wednesday afternoon crash- landed about 100 feet from where two planes ended up after a midair collision 11 days ago. The plane's three occupants, all licensed pilots from Vero Beach and Pro-Flite students, escaped injury after their emergency landing about 5:15 p.m. along Roseland Road. Officials from the Federal Avi- ation Administration and the Na- tional Transportation Safety Board were expected to inspect the scene this morning. It was not known what caused the plane's engine to fail. Kostantinos Svolopoulos, a pas- senger on the flight, said the trio decided to land on the road after realizing the plane would not make Runway 13 at the Sebastian airport. The runway is the same strip of pavement two pilots were headed for when they collided Feb. 3. The three Pro-Flite students worked together to get the plane down safely and minimize damage. Please See CRASH/2A Press -Journal staff photo by Kelly Collins Firefighters spray fire-supression foam on the downed plane as the severed wing is inspected. Sebastian Wants FAA To Intercede Ry PATRICIA Z1r.Air 1,4, $,b!tian Bureau Chief Two air crashes within 11 days of planes attempt- ing to use the Sebastian Municipal Airport have city officials worried enough to ask the Federal Aviation Administration to Hook into conditions there. "There might be something wrong," said Vice Mayor Robert McCarthy. "Maybe the terrain has changed." And frightened residents of River's Edge subdivi- sion, which lies under the approach to Runway 13 and where two planes have come down in separate incidents, are demanding that something be done to protect them. "After the first crash, my little girl asked if there would be more accidents," said River's Edge resident Art Riegle of his 7-year-old daughter. "I said no, it was just a fluke.. So now what do I tell her?" Riegle said in the most recent crash the plane ended up where the subdivision's children catch their school bus. The latest accident occurred Wednesday afternoon when a Piper Warrior II, traveling from Savannah, Ga., to Vero Beach, tried to make an emergency landing on Runway 13. Unable to reach the runway, the pilot landed on Roseland Road and crashed onto the shoulder near the entrance to River's Edge. Please See FAA/2A FAA From Pg. 1 A On Feb. 3, two airplanes attempting to land on runway 13 collided over River's Edge. A 19- year-old Savannah man was killed. The survi- vor, Roger Cooper, a former member of Sebas- tian's Airport Advisory Board,' remains in serious condition. "We have had two tragic crashes on the same runway," McCarthy said at Wednesdays regu- larly scheduled council meeting. "Perhaps we can ask the FAA to look into any procedures we might have that might need correction. It is our duty to look into this. "There is a possibility the FAA might find something; maybe some type of restrictions are needed there. We have to improve the safety of the airport." Mayor Richard Votapka agreed the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board should be brought in "to look at procedures that can be improved." Some River's Edge residents want more im- mediate action. "There has to be some way to get an injunc- tion against the airport until we get safety there," said resident Larry Brown. A free-lance nurse and anesthesiologist, Brown helped the surviving pilot of the first crash until paramed- ics arrived on the scene. "My little boy is afraid to come out of the house because he saw me covered in blood from helping get (Roger) Cooper out of the plane," Brown said. Airplane pieces from the Feb. 3 crash still have not been removed from the roof of her house, said Betty Dominix, and this latest crash has frightened her even more. "All day long, these planes have been going crazy," Ms. Dominix said. "They have been coming in too low. I can almost see the pilots. We have to do something about this." Belinda Riegle said she supported the idea of putting safety equipment at the airport, includ- ing a control tower, as long as it did not mean expansion at the airport. "I hear people complain about student pilots, Mrs. Riegle said. "It is not that it's stu- dents, it's the fact there is no control over how they are landing." Brown blames the flight schools, whose stu- dents are using the airport to practice, for not teaching their students well enough. "The accidents show the inexperience these people have and the lack of knowledge. They are not being taught how to handle situations."