Date: 08-03-2015
Man attends church after being in plane crash; 3 others improving
Jonathan Absher was right where he wanted to be Sunday morning: in church.
“‘I was glad when they said unto me,’ “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”NOW MORE THAN EVER’ MAN SAYS ABOUT CHURCH GOING the Somerset man wrote on his Facebook page.
Fourteen hours earlier, Absher suffered minor injuries when the two-engine plane in which he was riding crashed during an emergency landing at Georgetown-Scott County Regional Airport near Leesburg. He was released after being treated at Georgetown Community Hospital.
His father, Somerset businessman Ron Absher, and the Beechking Air’s pilot Mark Conrad remain in serious condition at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, where a fourth passenger, Aaron Conrad, is in fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The four were returning to Somerset from a fishing trip to Canada when one engine failed, forcing the emergency landing at GSCRA.
The airport reopened to traffic Sunday morning in the wake of a crash landing that left one person in critical condition and two others in serious condition Saturday night, said Scott County Sheriff Tony Hampton.
The craft was piloted by Mark Conrad. Passengers included his son, Aaron Conrad as well as Ron Absher and his son, Jonathan Absher.
One of the twin-engine plane’s motors Kentucky, Hampton said, resulting in an emergency landing in Scott County.
The crash occurred about 9 p.m. Saturday.
Airport manager Jim Poe said the plane, flying south, skimmed a small knoll at the runway’s north end, bounced and slid on grass next to the runway. The airplane did not catch fire or break up, although some parts were torn away in the impact.
Three of those on the plane were flown to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital in separate medical evacuation helicopters and one who was taken by ambulance for treatment of minor injuries, said Mike Hennigan of Georgetown-Scott County Emergency Management Agency.
“It’s a mess out there, Hennigan said.
A representative of the Federal Aviation Administration arrived at the scene about 8 a.m. Sunday to begin the crash investigation. A team from the National Transportation Safety Administration was expected to arrive either Sunday or early Monday to continue the crash inquiry, Hennigan said.
Also on site Sunday morning was a private contractor that cleans environmental contamination from fuel and chemical foam used by firefighters to prevent an explosion or fire.
The accident site was about a half-mile from the airport’s office building, Poe said. The building sits at the midpoint of the 5,000-foot runway.
By Don Adkins
Georgetown News-Graphic
