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Plane crashes into Ocala RV park; pilot dead
Susan Jacobson, Christine Show and Amy Mariani
Sentinel Staff Writers
8:37 PM EST, March 6, 2009
OCALA
A pilot is dead after a small plane plunged to the ground this afternoon and crashed into an Ocala RV park.
The single-engine plane hit two fifth wheels at Wild Frontier RV Park, but nobody was inside, the Ocala Fire Department said. The homemade aircraft was a silver S-51 model.
Witnesses on the ground heard sputtering and a pop from the airplane right before it hit some trees, then crashed into the trailers a little before 3 p.m.
"I heard the crack, crack, crack," said Mike Hishon, 59, whose RV was parked a few feet away. "I heard the engine roar up. And then it crashed. It was engulfed in flames."
"We heard a big boom," said Allen Schimmel, 59. "There was a ball of fire and we saw a lot of big smoke."
Residents and workers initially thought the explosion was propane tank, said Les Johnson, sales manager at Turning Wheel RV Center, which is in front of the park.
"We ran back to make sure everyone's OK," he said. "Everybody was out and running."
The northbound plane crashed half a block from busy U.S. Highway 441 in the middle of town, Ocala Deputy Fire Chief Bill Mallory said. Several homes and businesses, including an auto dealership and a school, are nearby.
"We're very lucky with the area it landed in," Mallory said.
The plane did not come from Ocala International Airport, investigators confirmed. It may have originated in one of the small communities in the area that have private airstrips. A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said plane is registered to John A. Hambleton, 80, whose address is about 15 miles northwest of the crash site. The pilot did not file a flight plan, and authorities don't know where the plane was going or coming from, the FAA said.
A woman who answered the phone this evening at Hambleton's home said, "We haven't heard anything" and declined to comment further.
Kevin Eldredge, a California pilot and flight enthusiast, built the plane that crashed and intended it for air racing. He said Hambleton was a test pilot on military P-51 Mustang fighter planes at the end of World War. Hambleton bought the S-51 from Eldredge about five years ago, then dismantantled and rebuilt it, Eldredge said. Records show Hambleton once was president of Gulf Coast Air Services in Fort Walton Beach.
"He's a really cool guy," Eldredge said. "I hope it's not him."
The S-51 is designated an experimental aircraft, meaning it was home built. Many experimental airplanes are put together from a kit, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. They are inspected by FAA-designated mechanics and engineers to ensure they are able to fly safely, she said.
The RV park has about 60 homes used largely by snowbirds, vacationers and RV clubs, Johnson said. A portion of the campground was evacuated because of the danger of exploding propane tanks and fumes and smoke. Employees in service and parts at the RV sales center were sent home.
"It was a disaster waiting to happen," Johnson said.
Geoffrey Blain, 64, who owns one of the fifth wheels that was hit, was on a lake trip when the crash happened. His wife was in Michigan at a meeting of retired teachers.
"I just feel extremely lucky to know I was somewhere else today," Blain said.
The FAA was called to the site. Either that agency or the National Transportation Safety Board, which will make a determination of the likely cause of the crash, will investigate.
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel
Susan Jacobson, Christine Show and Amy Mariani
Sentinel Staff Writers
8:37 PM EST, March 6, 2009
OCALA
A pilot is dead after a small plane plunged to the ground this afternoon and crashed into an Ocala RV park.
The single-engine plane hit two fifth wheels at Wild Frontier RV Park, but nobody was inside, the Ocala Fire Department said. The homemade aircraft was a silver S-51 model.
Witnesses on the ground heard sputtering and a pop from the airplane right before it hit some trees, then crashed into the trailers a little before 3 p.m.
"I heard the crack, crack, crack," said Mike Hishon, 59, whose RV was parked a few feet away. "I heard the engine roar up. And then it crashed. It was engulfed in flames."
"We heard a big boom," said Allen Schimmel, 59. "There was a ball of fire and we saw a lot of big smoke."
Residents and workers initially thought the explosion was propane tank, said Les Johnson, sales manager at Turning Wheel RV Center, which is in front of the park.
"We ran back to make sure everyone's OK," he said. "Everybody was out and running."
The northbound plane crashed half a block from busy U.S. Highway 441 in the middle of town, Ocala Deputy Fire Chief Bill Mallory said. Several homes and businesses, including an auto dealership and a school, are nearby.
"We're very lucky with the area it landed in," Mallory said.
The plane did not come from Ocala International Airport, investigators confirmed. It may have originated in one of the small communities in the area that have private airstrips. A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said plane is registered to John A. Hambleton, 80, whose address is about 15 miles northwest of the crash site. The pilot did not file a flight plan, and authorities don't know where the plane was going or coming from, the FAA said.
A woman who answered the phone this evening at Hambleton's home said, "We haven't heard anything" and declined to comment further.
Kevin Eldredge, a California pilot and flight enthusiast, built the plane that crashed and intended it for air racing. He said Hambleton was a test pilot on military P-51 Mustang fighter planes at the end of World War. Hambleton bought the S-51 from Eldredge about five years ago, then dismantantled and rebuilt it, Eldredge said. Records show Hambleton once was president of Gulf Coast Air Services in Fort Walton Beach.
"He's a really cool guy," Eldredge said. "I hope it's not him."
The S-51 is designated an experimental aircraft, meaning it was home built. Many experimental airplanes are put together from a kit, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. They are inspected by FAA-designated mechanics and engineers to ensure they are able to fly safely, she said.
The RV park has about 60 homes used largely by snowbirds, vacationers and RV clubs, Johnson said. A portion of the campground was evacuated because of the danger of exploding propane tanks and fumes and smoke. Employees in service and parts at the RV sales center were sent home.
"It was a disaster waiting to happen," Johnson said.
Geoffrey Blain, 64, who owns one of the fifth wheels that was hit, was on a lake trip when the crash happened. His wife was in Michigan at a meeting of retired teachers.
"I just feel extremely lucky to know I was somewhere else today," Blain said.
The FAA was called to the site. Either that agency or the National Transportation Safety Board, which will make a determination of the likely cause of the crash, will investigate.
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel