Virginia State Police Search & Recovery Team divers with the assistance of the Sullivan County, Tenn. County Sheriff’s Office dive team have spent the day searching the waters of South Holston Lake on the Washington County, Va., side for the pilot of the helicopter that crashed late Friday night (August 24, 2012). The divers will continue their search and recovery efforts through the evening. At approximately 10:30 p.m. Friday, a Bell 407 helicopter, owned by Food City, crashed into the lake shortly after takeoff from a nearby residential property. The helicopter had been ferrying passengers from the Bristol Motor Speedway to the residence. The helicopter had just dropped off six passengers and taken off when the crash occurred. Only the pilot, who is male and an East Tennessee resident, was onboard at the time of the crash.
Virginia State Police Search and Recovery Team (SRT) dive members spent much of Friday night searching the wreckage for the pilot. This morning, the SRT brought to the scene a side-scan sonar to use for the search for the pilot. The helicopter did break apart upon impact with the water, with the bulk of the aircraft still submerged in the water. The depths of the water at the crash site ranges from approximately 25 to 40 feet. The FAA responded to the scene Saturday morning to conduct its investigation. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.(WJHL)(8-25-2012)
UPDATE: The Virginia Highlands Airport was flying its U.S. and state flags at half-mast Saturday in memory of a missing pilot, although airport employees declined to comment on the crash of the Bell helicopter registered to the parent company of the Food City grocery stores. The pilot has been missing since the late Friday crash into South Holston Lake, though rescue crews have been searching nearly round the clock since then. According to a 2011 article in the online trade publication Aviation International News, Food City’s pilot, Bill Starnes, had amassed at least 26,500 accident-free flying hours when he was recognized in November with a National Business Aviation Association Pilot Flying Safety Award, as K-VA-T’s chief pilot.(Bristol Herald Courier)(8-26-2012)
