Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 5, 1993 TAG: 9309050243
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MOUNTAIN LAKE LENGTH: Medium
\ A Richmond woman was killed and three other people were injured Saturday afternoon when a small Cessna airplane crashed on a Giles County mountain less than a mile from Mountain Lake Resort.
The three survivors were trapped inside the plane for nearly four hours while rescue workers tried to locate the mangled plane.
Lucy Rosbe, 48, was dead when the rescue workers arrived, according to state Trooper Jeff Rose.
The pilot, William Rosbe, 46, of Richmond, was in satisfactory condition late Saturday at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Richard Langford, 46, of Blacksburg, and his 12-year-old son, whose name was not released, were still being treated at midnight.
Rose said they were seriously injured.
Giles County Rescue Squad Capt. Steve Davis said a man out jogging reported hearing the crash around 2 p.m.
"He heard it strike the trees and then the engine cut off," Davis said.
The accident happened about 100 yards from Virginia 613, but the area was so heavily wooded that it was almost 6 p.m. before a state police helicopter picked up an emergency signal from the aircraft.
State police Sgt. Marshall D. Dowdy said the plane took off from the Virginia Tech airport. He said the plane had been reported flying low Saturday morning, apparently just taking a pleasure flight around the area.
The pilot told Rose that the plane was headed toward Mountain Lake for sightseeing.
When Rosbe realized he was flying too low to clear the mountain, he veered left to make a 180-degree turn back down Bald Knob, but the plane lost altitude and struck the trees.
It took nearly two hours for more than 25 rescue workers to free the four victims from the mangled plane.
Roughly 30 guests at the hotel gathered outside to watch as paramedics loaded the survivors into two rescue helicopters headed for Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
"Those were three lucky people," Davis said of the survivors. "That's a plane in a whole lot of pieces."
The crash site has been roped off until officials from the National Transportation Safety Board can investigate the crash.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB