14-Year Old And His Seat Were Missing After Montrose
Mishap
Search teams late Monday said they had located the body of a
young man thought to be Edward "Teddie" Ebersol, the 14-year old
Edward Ebersol, son of NBC's sports chief, after their Canadair
Challenger CL-600 (file photo of type, below) crashed on take-off
from Montrose, CO, Sunday. The boy and his seat were missing from
the aircraft wreckage.
NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, Edward and 21-year old Charlie
Ebersol were among the five people on board when witnesses say the
bizjet lifted briefly off the runway, then crashed, exploded and
burned.
"It was huge, it really was. I didn't know how far the flames
would erupt, they went mostly up and out but they went basically up
in the air and it was a large, large fireball," witness Gary Ellis
told KMGH-TV. "In my mind, and just from what I observed and the
magnitude of the fireball, I'm terribly surprised anybody could
have survived."
Ebersol's wife, actress Susan St. James, had departed the
aircraft in Montrose as the sports chief and his sons continued
toward South Bend, IN, where Charlie attends Notre Dame
University.
Two members of the flight crew, the pilot and a cabin attendant,
were also killed in the accident. They've been identified as
Luis Alberto Polanco Espaillat, 50, of the Dominican Republic and
Warren T. Richardson III, 36, of Coral Gables, FL. There was no
indication from officials on the ground which was the flight
attendant and which was the pilot.
There's no immediate word on the condition of both Ebersol and
his older son. Ms. St. James was at her husband's side and asked
for privacy.
FAA Preliminary Accident Report
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 873G Make/Model: CL60
Description: CL-600/601/604 Challenger (CC-144, CE-14
Date: 11/28/2004 Time: 1720
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City:
MONTROSE
State: CO Country: US
DESCRIPTION
N873G, GLOBAL AVIATION GLB73, A CL60 ACFT, CRASHED SHORTLY
AFTER TAKEOFF,
THERE WERE SIX PEOPLE ON BOARD, TWO WERE FATALLY INJURED,
THREE WERE
SERIOUSLY INJURED AND ONE IS MISSING, THE ACFT WAS DESTROYED,
MONTROSE, CO
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 2
# Crew:
2 Fat: 2 Ser: 0
Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass:
4 Fat: 0 Ser:
3 Min: 0 Unk: Y
#
Grnd: Fat: 0
Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: KMTJ 281711Z AUTO 35006KT 1SM-SN OVC011 M02/M02
A2967
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Take-off
Operation: Air Taxi (On Demand)
Departed: MONTROSE,
CO Dep Date:
11/28/2004 Dep. Time:
Destination: SOUTH BEND, IN Flt
Plan: IFR Wx Briefing: U
Last Radio Cont: ON DEPARTURE
Last Clearance: CLRD FOR DEPARTURE
FAA FSDO: SALT LAKE CITY, UT
(NM07) Entry date: 11/29/2004