Sat, Oct 30, 2004
Aircraft went down in 1998, found by a bear hunter this
week
The search for a pilot missing for six years after he crashed in
the mountains of North Carolina is finally over, and Walter
Parker's family has finally found the closure they sought for so
many years.
The single engine aircraft left Portsmouth (OH) almost exactly
four years ago, on November 4, 1998, on a trip to Andrews-Murphy
Airport, to visit his son on his birthday. Parker was 72 at
the time. The aircraft never arrived at its destination, and the
CAP began the search along with several law enforcement agencies.
It was never found, but Parker's son, an FBI agent, never gave up
trying to find his dad, taking vacations in the area to continue
the search.
This week, a bear hunter found the wreck and the remains of Mr.
Parker in the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness area of the
Nantahala National Forest, according to Rick Schwein, the
supervisor of the Asheville FBI office. "This family has literally
come and walked these mountains and searched for him for the past
six years. They never gave up on it," said Schwein. "We can finally
give closure to this family."
Schwein added that finding the wreck of the aircraft in a
national forest is not unusual, and pointed out that they found one
when they were looking for wll-known fugitive Eric Rudolph in
2003.
(Senior Contributing Editor Kevin O'Brien did some research
on this story after we pulished it on 10/30/04 and found the
link to the NTSB report (below), which reveals additional
information, such as the fact that the aircraft was a Piper
PA-28-180 Cherokee.)
More News
Aero Linx: Model Aeronautical Association of Australia MAAA clubs are about fun flying, camaraderie and community. For over 75 years, the MAAA has been Australia’s largest fl>[...]
Touchdown Zone Lighting Two rows of transverse light bars located symmetrically about the runway centerline normally at 100 foot intervals. The basic system extends 3,000 feet alon>[...]
“Discovery and innovation are central to our mission at Virgin Galactic. We’re excited to build on our successful record of facilitating scientific experiments in subor>[...]
How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]
Student Pilot Reported That During Rotation, “All Of A Sudden The Back Of The Plane Kicked To The Right..." Analysis: The student pilot reported that during rotation, “>[...]