1. Katherine
Parker
MJC
102
Mid-­‐Term
Part
3
10-­‐28-­‐13
Airplane
Crash
Two men are dead and four others were injured in a recent airplane crash outside
of an airport restaurant recently.
The Big Pig Shak located next to the airport was engulfed in flames from an airplane
that apparently turned away from the runway. Joseph E. Blackwell, 40, and Tommy B
Ludner, 49, of Hattiesburg lost their lives due to this fire. The aircraft did not strike
anyone, but four others were injured from smoke inhalation while waiting inside for their
lunch.
Hattiesburg Police Department Police Chief, Dennis Gullet, and the National
Transportation Safety Board are working together in an investigation to find the cause of
the malfunction of the aircraft, and although this has not been confirmed, the loss of
power is believed to be from mechanical problems, and not from any fault of the pilot.
Amazingly, the pilot, Roscoe Magillicutty of Denton Alabama, was uninjured but was
taken to the hospital anyway. 50-year-old Harley L. Stark was supposed to be eating
lunch with his friend, Tommy Ludner, when he heard the explosion. He thought that a car
might have struck the restaurant. A plane was certainly not what he expected.
It was Harley’s 50th
birthday. He and Tommy were set to celebrate their mutual
birthday ages together, but instead of celebrating, Harley ended up coughing from the
smoke that quickly filled the room, and crawling on the floor in his French Onion Soup
covered clothes. He thankfully escaped just in time to his next glimpse of sunlight. What
he didn’t see was his friend, Tommy.
“When someone mentioned the need to look for him, I recalled last seeing him behind
the counter. Sadly, that was the last memory I would have of my friend. The building
collapsed before I could do anything. I just feel so bad. Happy Birthday to me, right?
Yea, right,” said Harley.
Simon Flyover, Airport Manager said, “The tower received a ‘Mayday’ call from the
pilot, and now we’re awaiting the NTSB to get here to tell us what happened. We haven’t
had a crash since 1964, so we’ve been lucky. I just hate we’ve lost Tommy Ludner and
his restaurant.”
“It appears that the plane hit the breaker box in the building, which was just the right
place.” Said Hattiesburg Fire Chief, Cyrus “Smokey Burns.” He said was unsure of the
current condition of the electrical wiring, but said that two of the fire fighters had to be
treated additionally because of smoke inhalation. Sally Smith was waiting to board a
plane when the accident took place. She said that she could not see clearly because of the
distance, but did notice that the pilot appeared to have taken a wrong turn causing him to
crash into the building. More information will be released as the investigation continues.