Greensboro, NC Private Plane Crashes, Apr 1973

GREENSBORO CRASH KILLS SIX.

WITNESS SEES EXPLOSION.

Greensboro, N.C. (AP) -- A private plane crashed in flame just after takeoff Friday night, killing all six aboard.
The pilot of the twin-engined Cessna 402 had told the control tower at the Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem Regional Airport at 10:10 p.m. that he had just taken off on a local flight of 10 or 15 minutes.
There was no more radio contact. Two minutes later the plane crashed in a wooded field a mile east of the airport and burned.
An official at the Raleigh office of the Federal Aviation Administration said he understood two of those aboard were from Greensboro, one a pilot for a charter flight service.
All the bodies were recovered, but there was no immediate identification.
There are industrial plants near the crash scene, and TROY A. NUNN, an employe of a swimming pool company, said he first saw the plane flying normally. "Then I heard a loud pop like a firecracker. Then I watched it explode on the ground."
He said trees caught fire and he tried to get as close as he could to the wreckage, "but there was nothing I could do. I could see two bodies on fire near the plane."
Other bodies were inside the plane.
The control tower said the weather was good at the time of the crash, with visibility unlimited and winds light.
Firemen put out the woods fire, but the flames consumed the plane.

The Daily Times News Burlington North Carolina 1973-04-14

----------------------------------------------------------

GREENSBORO VICTIMS ARE IDENTIFIED.

Greensboro, N.C. (AP) -- Authorities have completed identification of the six persons killed last Friday night in the crash of a private plane just after takeoff from the Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem regional airport.
The victims were listed as:
TAYLOR GEORGE STEELE, 20, Greensboro.
ALBERT DALE PERRY, 25, Greensboro.
BRUCE HARRISON, 30, Greensboro.
EDWARD HARVEY WHITESELL, 32, of Jamestown, N.C.
JERRY MARSHALL PALMER, 33, Rt. 2, Summerfield, N.C.
DARRELL GRAY BOWERS, 34, High Point, N.C.
There were no survivors in the crash and the bodies were so badly burned that identification of the last victim was not established until late Saturday night.
An investigation of the crash is underway.

The Daily Times News Burlington North Carolina 1973-04-16
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!