ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701270066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILKESBORO, N.C.
A log-filled trailer that slammed into a church van, killing five people, had not had a safety inspection in at least five years, investigators said.
The inspection sticker on the Virginia-registered trailer, which also had faulty brakes and six bald tires, expired in 1992, said Capt. David Robinson of the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles.
The truck driver, Bennie Gwyn Cornett, 52, of Atkins, Va., was cited for the bad brakes and tires after Monday's wreck and for having an expired inspection sticker on the trailer, Robinson said Friday.
Cornett's company, Cornett Trucking and Logging Co. of Atkins, also was cited for not having a U.S. Department of Transportation number, required by federal law.
Investigators believe that the violations contributed to the truck's collision with a Restoration Center church van. Cornett was charged with five counts of involuntary manslaughter after the wreck. He is free on $50,000 bond.
Cornett was hauling timber when his truck veered into the opposite lane in a sharp curve, Highway Patrol Trooper James Cox said. The log-filled trailer swung to the left and hit the van, whose passengers were on the way to a revival.
Five people in the van - the church's pastor, Billy Mack Carr, 45; his son, Billy Matthew Carr, 20; the pastor's nephew, Ronald Lee Carr Jr., 20; Ronald Carr's wife, Charlotte Renee Carr, 21; and a church member, Gary Wayne Phillips, 45 - were killed.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB