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The C-23 that crashed Saturday in Georgia was part of a National Guard unit set to relocate from Lakeland to the Hernando County Airport.
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 6, 2001
Three Florida National Guard members killed last weekend in the crash of a military aircraft in Georgia belonged to the battalion scheduled to move to the Hernando County Airport this month, a transfer that now will be delayed several weeks while the unit mourns and regroups.
The 171st Aviation Battalion was set to begin moving equipment this month from its Lakeland base, aiming to complete the relocation of personnel, eight Black Hawk helicopters and two twin-engine C-23 Sherpa aircraft by July, said Jon Myatt, spokesman for the National Guard.
The C-23 that crashed Saturday in heavy rains in Unadilla, Ga. -- killing the three Florida men and 18 members of the Virginia Air National Guard -- was supposed to be one of the aircraft to be housed at the new Hernando County site. The second C-23 Sherpa will remain grounded in Lakeland indefinitely until investigators declare it free of safety problems.
"I don't know when this aircraft will be replaced or the procedures to have it replaced," Myatt said.
However, the National Guard will continue preparing the Hernando site for the Sherpas, Black Hawks and personnel, if only a few weeks later. Construction plans for an additional hangar for the C-23 Sherpas remains on track.
"(The crash) is going to delay us (moving) a couple of weeks because everybody at Lakeland will be involved in memorial services and funerals," Myatt said. "We are in no real regulatory rush. We do not have to leave Lakeland right away. Right now our plans are changed because we have to take care of the unit and the families of the victims and show proper honors to the military folks that died."
One of the three men who died would have been among about 35 National Guard members from Lakeland stationed full time at the Hernando County Airport site, Myatt said.
Staff Sgt. Robert Ward, 35, a flight engineer and former Marine with nearly 20 years of military experience, was an active-duty member who had not yet moved from Lakeland to Hernando County, Myatt said. Many of the 35 families have already done so.
Chief Warrant Officer John Duce, 49, of Orange Park, was a full-time pilot based out of Jacksonville who would have conducted regular flying missions out of Hernando.
"He would have been in and out of Brooksville quite often," Myatt said.
Chief Warrant Officer Eric Larson, 34, of Land O'Lakes, a pilot who was about to embark on his dream to fly as a captain for a major airline, was a traditional part-time National Guard member who would have trained out of Hernando one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer, Myatt said.
Larson would have been among about 90 part-time members visiting the Hernando site throughout the year for training, in addition to the 35 full-time members.
The difficult process of recovering the bodies of victims from Saturday's crash from the muddy field where the plane went down ended at about 11 a.m. Monday, Myatt said. They will be flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where the bodies will be identified before being returned to their home bases.
Myatt said he expects the Lakeland unit to hold memorial services this weekend or early next week.
Hernando County officials will likely take part in those services, said Bob Mattingly, manager of the Hernando County Airport. The airport site reserved for the National Guard is a 45,000-square-foot building that holds three hangar bays, administrative and maintenance space. An additional hangar, earmarked for use by the C-23 Sherpas, is 15,000 square feet. The military uses C-23 aircraft to transport cargo and personnel.
Mattingly expressed condolences to the families and National Guard members who will soon become a regular part of Hernando County's community.
"My heart goes out to the families concerning their losses," Mattingly said. "I've already apprised the county administrator of the situation, and if it be the case (that the National Guard will hold memorial services), the airport will attend the service."
- Information from Times files was used in this report.