Meantime, Small Graphics Company Journeys Onward,
Despite Loss Of Leaders
Workers at a small graphics company
in Pelzer, SC, say they'll muddle through, after the loss of both
their bosses in the first fatal accident involving a Diamond
DA40.
"We really haven’t missed a beat," said plant manager
Chris Boyle, in an interview with Anderson Independent-Mail. "I
know the company will survive. We are going to have to make
Accu-Pad grow."
The Diamond DA-40 (file photo of type, above), carrying company
owners Chip Moore and Brian Winstead, impacted power lines and
trees, December 9th while on approach to the Donaldson Center
Airport in heavy IFR conditions. In addition to Moore and Winstead,
Moore's flight instructor, 43-year old Scott Burdick of Greer, SC,
was also lost. The wreckage was discovered in a field about 10
miles south of the airport.
In its preliminary report, issued Monday, the NTSB wrote:
On December 9, 2004, at 1013 eastern standard time, a Diamond
Aircraft DA40-180, N42SE, registered to and operated by Accupad,
Inc., collided with a power line, trees and subsequently the ground
while on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 05,
at Donaldson Center Airport, in a residential area in Pelzer, South
Carolina. The flight was being operated under the provisions of
Title 14 CFR Part 91, and instrument flight rules. Instrument
meteorological conditions prevailed and an IFR flight plan was
filed for the cross-country flight. The certified flight instructor
(CFI), pilot rated passenger, and passenger received fatal injuries
and the airplane was destroyed. The flight originated from
Jacksonville, Florida, on December 9, 2004, at about 0800.
Upon arriving in the destination
airport area, the Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic
Controller issued the pilot radar vectors to the final approach
course for a landing on runway 05. As the airplane continued the
approach, the air traffic controller observed the airplane descend
below the minimum safe altitude of 2500 feet. Attempts by the air
traffic controller to reestablish radio contact with the pilot were
unsuccessful. At 1021, the local 911 operators received a telephone
call, at which time the caller reported the downed airplane 9.4
nautical miles south of the airport.
Examination of the crash site revealed a damaged power line
about 75 feet above the ground and that the tops of four trees were
also damaged. The crash debris line was on a heading of 195-degrees
magnetic, 100 feet wide and 450 feet long.
Moore, 52, and Winstead, 46, started Accu-Pad in 1991. The
company is known for its logo-wear and for transferring graphics
onto odd-shaped materials like golf balls, according to the
Independent-Mail. They were returning home after a two-day business
trip to Jacksonville, FL.