Probe into Havelock crash continues

Federal investigators have completed their inspection of the site where a 1960s-era airplane crashed en route to the Cherry Point Air Show on Thursday.

Anglin Aircraft Recovery Services of Clinton, Del. was contracted by the National Transportation Safety Board to remove the wreckage of a Grumman US-2B Tracker from a wooded area near Creek Drive in Havelock. The last of the debris was removed Monday, according to Diane Miller, Havelock public information officer.

The Federal Aviation Administration has inspected the wreckage and has not yet released information on the cause of Thursday’s wreck.

The civilian-owned plane was operated by the Old Dominion Squadron of the Commemorative Air Force and was scheduled to be part of a static display at the Cherry Point Air Show.

Four members of the plane’s five-person crew were walking after the crash and believed to be unhurt. One was airlifted to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville and treated for unknown injuries.

Kay Crites, a spokeswoman for the Commemorative Air Force, identified the five crewmembers as Buck Barrett, Cherie McClung, Bill Salisbury, Bud Statzer and Burt Stafford. She would not say who was admitted to the Greenville hospital, but confirmed that the crewmember still is being treated for injuries sustained in the crash.

Some Havelock residents were without electricity while crews from Progress Energy and the Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative repaired power lines the aircraft clipped during its descent. City police directed traffic at several intersections where traffic signals were without power.

Havelock and Cherry Point paramedics assisted at the scene, along with Havelock police, Craven County sheriff’s deputies, N.C. State Highway Patrol troopers and officials from the U.S. and N.C. forestry services.

Miller said paramedics and firefighters from Newport also responded to the emergency calls.