wade moore
11-15-2006, 07:39 AM
Video Link - http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=101312&catId=44
Story Link - http://www.wvec.com/news/local/stories/111206ccwcWVECplanecrash.301713b2.html
Florida couple critically injured in plane crash
01:38 PM EST on Monday, November 13, 2006
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A husband and wife were critically injured late Sunday morning when their plane crashed on takeoff from the Williamsburg/Jamestown Airport.
Karl Fix, the pilot, and his wife Ingrid, both in their 50s, were returning to their St. Petersburg, Fla., home after spending Saturday night in Williamsburg. Their single-engine plane, a Piper Cherokee Lance 180, crashed about 30 feet up into a tree and exploded just after leaving the runway at about 11:30 a.m.
The Fixes were taken to VCU Medical Center, where they remained hospitalized Sunday night.
The charred wreckage remained lodged in the tree Sunday evening as Federal Aviation Administration investigators tried to determine the cause of the crash.
Lisa Waltrip saw the flames and ran to the scene.
"It was in the tree, on fire, and (there were) continually sparks, noises like explosions and stuff," she said.
Dena Waltrip, Lisa's sister, also ran to help and found the 56-year-old pilot and his wife on the ground below the plane.
"He was saying she was stuck for awhile but he got her out, and (he) kept asking if she was okay," Dena Waltrip said.
Ingrid Fix was badly burned, but windy conditions at the time kept rescue helicopters grounded, so the couple was evacuated by ambulance.
FAA investigators don't know whether the rainy and windy conditions caused the crash, but the Waltrip sisters said the plane appeared to be fluctuating up and down as it tried to gain altitude.
So, this airport is less than a 1/2 mile as the crow flies from my house. It's basically behind the woods (with a few other houses in between). So, I know basically where this thing crashed and it is again, less than .5 miles down the road. I don't know how I didn't hear the explosion Sunday morning, or if I heard it and thought it was the guys shooting their rifles in the woods, a backfire, or something.
The airport is a little regional airport that only has like 2-3 person planes and small helicopters fly in/out of it. I've always known that sure this risk was there, but man is it scary to think that this thing could have easily crashed directly into my house (not a bad thing if no one is home, but i digress).
Unfortunately the wife has since died and the husband/pilot is still in critical condition.
Story Link - http://www.wvec.com/news/local/stories/111206ccwcWVECplanecrash.301713b2.html
Florida couple critically injured in plane crash
01:38 PM EST on Monday, November 13, 2006
13 News http://www.wvec.com/images/videoicon.gif Click to watch video (http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=101312&catId=44)
A husband and wife were critically injured late Sunday morning when their plane crashed on takeoff from the Williamsburg/Jamestown Airport.
Karl Fix, the pilot, and his wife Ingrid, both in their 50s, were returning to their St. Petersburg, Fla., home after spending Saturday night in Williamsburg. Their single-engine plane, a Piper Cherokee Lance 180, crashed about 30 feet up into a tree and exploded just after leaving the runway at about 11:30 a.m.
The Fixes were taken to VCU Medical Center, where they remained hospitalized Sunday night.
The charred wreckage remained lodged in the tree Sunday evening as Federal Aviation Administration investigators tried to determine the cause of the crash.
Lisa Waltrip saw the flames and ran to the scene.
"It was in the tree, on fire, and (there were) continually sparks, noises like explosions and stuff," she said.
Dena Waltrip, Lisa's sister, also ran to help and found the 56-year-old pilot and his wife on the ground below the plane.
"He was saying she was stuck for awhile but he got her out, and (he) kept asking if she was okay," Dena Waltrip said.
Ingrid Fix was badly burned, but windy conditions at the time kept rescue helicopters grounded, so the couple was evacuated by ambulance.
FAA investigators don't know whether the rainy and windy conditions caused the crash, but the Waltrip sisters said the plane appeared to be fluctuating up and down as it tried to gain altitude.
So, this airport is less than a 1/2 mile as the crow flies from my house. It's basically behind the woods (with a few other houses in between). So, I know basically where this thing crashed and it is again, less than .5 miles down the road. I don't know how I didn't hear the explosion Sunday morning, or if I heard it and thought it was the guys shooting their rifles in the woods, a backfire, or something.
The airport is a little regional airport that only has like 2-3 person planes and small helicopters fly in/out of it. I've always known that sure this risk was there, but man is it scary to think that this thing could have easily crashed directly into my house (not a bad thing if no one is home, but i digress).
Unfortunately the wife has since died and the husband/pilot is still in critical condition.