C-130 crash remembered, 40 years later

"They say you always remember exactly what you were doing when certain things happened in your life, like where you were when you heard that JFK had been shot -- that's the way it is with the plane crash, it sure is funny the things you remember years later," Gerald Hoggard reminisced Friday morning.

The occasion was the 40th anniversary of one of the darkest days in Piggott history, the day that a C-130 Hercules transport plane plunged to the ground on the west edge of the city killing all six of the crewmen aboard. Hoggard, an employee of Russell Mortuary and county coroner at the time, was one of the first people to the scene of the grisly crash.

The day was Thursday, July 30, 1970, and like most late-July days in Northeast Arkansas, it was well over 90 degrees and clear. Without warning the transport plane appeared over the western horizon at low altitude, engines sputtering as its crew tried to maintain altitude. The flight was attached to the 4442nd Combat Crew Training Wing out of Little Rock Air Force Base, and had left Jacksonville about two hours earlier on a training mission.

Actually, according to reports published in the Daily American Republic of Poplar Bluff, a Wilhelmina man first noticed the plane flying west along the Arkansas-Missouri state line. The unidentified man called the Missouri Highway Patrol and reported that an airplane seemed to be having engine trouble and had turned back to the southeast.

This led investigators to surmise the plane had turned from its designated training course and was apparently attempting to reach the Blytheville Air Force Base.

Around 5:50 p.m., with many local residents watching in horror, the plane exploded as it approached the west edge of the city and plummeted into a field near the Norris Reeves home, showering debris for hundreds of yards. The location was just north of current West Clay Street, near the intersection of Willow Avenue.

"I was standing out in Jim Rogers' back yard -- I think we were putting up corn at the time," Gary Magee remembered of that afternoon. "I looked up and the plane was flying really low and was only a few hundred yards south of us -- the engines were sputtering and there was fire along the wing. I told Jim, look at that plane. It was so close I could read all the numbers on the side, which made it seem like a little plane at the time."

Moments later the plane exploded with such force that a portion of one wing was blown into a field behind the Ed Scheffler home on what is now Heritage Park Road. One of the huge engines also fell in the driveway of the Ray Book residence nearby, landing just inches from the front bumper of Book's pickup. The family was sitting at the supper table at the time, as were many local residents, and came out to find the flaming engine next to their home. Reports from that time indicated they put out the blaze with a garden hose.

"I was on an ambulance call to pick up Buck Thomas' wife and had just left my house on Royal Road when I saw the plane," Hoggard remembered of the afternoon. "It's funny what you remember years later, but when that plane exploded and I saw what I later found out to be the wing fly away from it -- that was just the most gruesome thing to see."

Hoggard made his way to the scene of the crash and was the second person to arrive at the gate to the pasture. "We knew no one could have survived that impact, and there was a big fire so we decided to hold back in case there were any more explosions. There was one, but it wasn't big. By then some of the members of the fire department had arrived."

Also arriving at the scene quickly was Louise Ellis, business manager for The Piggott Times. "I was sitting in the office counting paper sales money when I heard all the commotion, so I just grabbed my camera locked up and headed out there. I think I was the third or fourth person to get to the scene."

Ellis' documented the scene in photographs just minutes after the impact, and throughout much of the recovery of the bodies. The following morning she also took aerial photos of the scene from an airplane piloted by James Flannigan of Pollard.

"The photos I took that evening and the next day, and the aerial photos, helped the Air Force figure out some of the details but they never explained what they thought happened," she added. Ellis said the Air Force took all the negatives to the Blytheville Air Force Base for copying and then returned them to her and the newspaper. The work earned her letters of commendation from the Air Force.

Following the crash, hundreds of local residents pushed to the scene, hampering firefighters and other emergency personnel. Around 8 p.m. the blaze was brought under control and the process of recovering the bodies began. The explosion had killed all six instantly and, according to Hoggard, all the bodies were found a short distance apart.

The blaze from the plane also damaged the Ark-Mo Power line that carried 161,000 volts through the pasture, prompting officials to cut energy to the line. This caused a blackout that affected Piggott, Pollard, Rector and much of the surrounding area.

The bodies of the six crewmen were recovered and taken to the Blytheville Air Force Base Hospital for identification. They were later identified as Maj. Albert L. Wilkinson, Capt. Raymond D. Rotella, Second Lt. Lowell K. West, Master Sgt. Charles A. Carver, III, Sgt. Louis P. Belle Isle and Navy Petty Officer Norman C. Wagonschutz.

No official report was ever released to the local media, but later reports on the flight indicated that a stalling exercise was part of the mission.

"There were several times that officials from the Air Force pointed out something in one of my photos and indicated that it was a clue, but they never went into detail," Ellis added.

"I had a chance to talk with the commander quite a bit that came up from Blytheville," Hoggard said. "He told me that it had to be a fire that brought down that plane."

There were a number of fatal plane crashes in 1970, in the Dominican Republic, Spain and Canada that each claimed over 100 people. In mid-November a chartered DC-9 crashed and burned on approach to the Tri-State Airport at Huntington, Va., killing 75, including the entire Marshall University football team. But for local residents, the day the plane crashed west of Piggott will forever be etched in their memories.