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Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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The pilot's son says his dad and the co-pilot may not have realizedthe aircraft was not prepared to fly before an accident in February 2005 that killed both of them.
By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published June 16, 2006
CLEARWATER - A careful pilot, Ralph Carl Herrlin, of Clearwater, typically made a point of checking his airplane's fuel and water before taking off in his Beech 35-C33.
But Herrlin, 78, may not have made that check before taking off on Feb. 15, 2005, the day his plane crashed into a Clearwater neighborhood. The crash killed him and Jim Edward Smith, 63, of Palm Harbor.
A note found in the wreckage said the plane had been waxed but not fueled, Ralph's son, Richard Herrlin, 54, said. He said he thinks the note fell off the dashboard and to the floor before either man saw it.
Richard Herrlin said each man flying might have assumed the other had checked the fuel.
That could have been a fatal error. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined the plane crashed after apparently running out of fuel.
Federal investigators concluded the probable cause of the accident was the "loss of engine power during initial climb due to fuel exhaustion, the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane, and the pilot's failure to maintain minimum airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and uncontrolled descent into a residence."
The 40-year-old airplane crashed between homes on Grovewood Road after leaving Clearwater Airpark. No one on the ground was injured.
A member of Smith's family declined to comment Wednesday.
A relative told investigators that Herrlin, the plane's owner who had a private pilot certificate, had recently had brain surgery and didn't consider himself fit to fly, according to the NTSB. He told his wife he wouldn't fly without his doctor's consent.
Smith, also a private pilot and a certified aircraft mechanic, was in the left front seat, which indicates he was acting as the pilot in command of the plane. The report did not specify who was controlling the plane when it crashed.
The fuel truck operator at the city-owned airport told investigators he hadn't fueled the plane that day.
A witness told investigators that on the day of the accident, Herrlin said he had been having problems with the fuel system and was going to take the plane for a test flight.
Other witnesses said everything looked normal at takeoff. The plane descended away from the airport and started a right turn, which is normal.
Witnesses said they then saw the plane start to turn left - back to the airport, they presumed. The left turn was unusual unless there was a problem, the witnesses told investigators.
At some point, witnesses said, the engine quit.
The plane caused major damage at 2210 Grovewood Road when its nose crashed through the home's roof and bedroom wall.
The NTSB report said there were no fuel stains or residue on the house at impact and only a slight smell of fuel. No fuel was found when the fuel injection manifold valve and associated fuel lines were disassembled.
--Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
[Last modified June 16, 2006, 04:15:15]
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