Prominent Georgians killed in Mount Airy plane crash

[Debau2005]

Source: AJC

"A small plane that took off from Dallas, Ga., Friday morning and crashed near Mt. Airy, N.C., shortly before noon is believed to have killed all six on board, at least three of them prominent members of the Georgia Republican party and friends of Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue."

Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/stories/2008/02/01/crash_0201.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

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So far no news on who these people were.

[Cooley Hurd]

1. From Wikipedia (Georgia Republican Party leadership)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Republican_Party

Leadership

Governor Sonny Perdue is the titular head of the Georgia Republican Party. Sue Everhart is the State Chairman, and Marty Klein is the Executive Director. Alec Pointevint, who recently stepped down after his third term as Chairman, serves as Republican National Committeeman representing Georgia. Linda Herren serves as the National Committeewoman.

There is NO indication that any of the people mentioned in the article were on the aircraft, however, I provided the excerpt as an FYI only...

[seafan]

2. Three of 6 tentatively identified in the article:

.....

Federal Aviation Administration officials and local authorities in Surry County, N.C.. could not confirm the deaths or the names of the victims. They were flying on a plane registered to Blue Sky Airways, in Dallas, whose CEO is John Wesley Rakestraw, a Paulding County developer who has held fund raisers for Perdue.

According to Darrell L. Galloway, head of the Paulding County Republican Party, Rakestraw is believe to be one of the dead. Also killed, according to Galloway, are developer Steve Simpson, and Paulding County Commissioner Hal Echols.

.....

AJC

[Debau2005]

3. Thanks!

Must have missed that.

[shain from kane]

4. Barney Fife as crash investigator?

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Now on CNN, all six identified:

Small-plane crash kills 6 in North Carolina

MOUNT AIRY, North Carolina (CNN) -- Six people were killed Friday when a small plane crashed into the front yard of a home while attempting to land in fog and low visibility in Mount Airy, North Carolina, authorities said.

The crash occurred about 11:30 a.m., according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The plane was coming from Polk County Airport in Cedartown, Georgia, and was attempting to land in overcast conditions, with visibility of about 2 ½ miles, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown.

After air traffic controllers cleared the plane to land, the airport manager saw it come out of the clouds, but it was too high, Brown said. The pilot attempted a "go-around" and disappeared into the clouds, but the airport manager then heard a crash. The crash site was in a subdivision east of the airport.
***
A Rockmart, Georgia, newspaper identified the victims as Rockmart residents Hal Echols, owner of Blue Sky Airways; Wesley Rakestraw; and Steve Simpson. Three other victims were identified as Robert Butler, Tony Gunter and Frank Regero, whose addresses were unknown, the WXII12 News Web site said.
***
more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/01/nc.plane.crash/index.html?iref=topnews

[Orsino]

6. So Republicans can perish in small-plane crashes, too.

It sounds terrible--like blatant pilot error. :-(