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Pilot helpless to prevent Stewart's jet from crashing Associated Press October 27 1:17pm ET | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Air Force Capt. Chris Hamilton could only watch helplessly alongside a business jet as it flew uncontrolled over the nation's heartland Monday.
Hamilton, who caught up with the Learjet over Memphis, Tenn., had no idea golfer Payne Stewart was on the private plane that eventually crashed in South Dakota, killing him and at least four other people. The 32-year-old Air Force pilot from Newport News, Va., was flying his F-16 Fighting Falcon, call sign "Bullet One," on a training mission over the Gulf of Mexico when he was diverted to try to find out what was wrong with the Learjet. "It's a very helpless feeling to pull up alongside another aircraft and realize the people inside that aircraft potentially are unconscious or in some other way incapacitated," Hamilton said. "And there's nothing I can do physically from my aircraft -- even though I'm 50 to 100 feet away -- to help them at all. That's very disheartening." The twin-engine plane, which took off from Orlando, Fla., may have suffered a pressurization failure during its scheduled flight to Dallas, government officials said. Hamilton, a member of the Eglin-based 40th Flight Test Squadron, said he observed no damage to the aircraft but was unable to see inside the plane. "From my position, it looked as if the front cockpit windshield was condensed or fogged over," he said. "I could not see into the cockpit area of the aircraft itself. Neither could I see inside the passenger windows of the aircraft. Those windows just appeared dark." Hamilton said he spent five to 10 minutes flying with the Learjet before having to drop to a lower altitude to conserve fuel. He was then directed to go to Scott Air Force Base, Ill., to refuel. The chase was then picked up by two Air National Guard F-16s from Tulsa, Okla. Staff Sgt. James Hicks, 34, of Orlando, was on duty as an air traffic controller at Eglin when he received a call from the Federal Aviation Administration control center in Jacksonville that the Learjet might be in trouble. Hicks directed Hamilton, engaged in air-to-air combat training against an A-10 Thunderbolt II, to a tanker operating over Eglin's vast military reservation to top off his fuel and give chase to the Learjet. It took Hamilton, whose plane was unarmed, about 50 minutes to close the 100-mile lead the Learjet had. The plane, a Lear 35 built in 1976, took off from Orlando at about 9:20 a.m. ET, and the last communication came from over Gainesville, Fla., said Tony Molinaro, an FAA spokesman in Chicago. The jet had flown as high as 45,000 feet and the crew did not respond to repeated inquiries from air traffic controllers, said Paul Turk, another FAA spokesman. About four hours after takeoff, the plane crashed in a grassy field two miles west of Mina, S.D., in the north-central part of the state. In addition to Stewart, also killed were agents Robert Fraley and Van Ardan and the two pilots, said Bill Curry, a spokesman for Stewart's family. Fraley was CEO of Leader Enterprises Inc. and Ardan was president of the sports management company. Stewart, 42, was one of the most recognizable players in golf because of his trademark clothing. He won 18 tournaments around the world, including three major championships. In June, he won his second U.S. Open, prevailing over Phil Mickelson with a 15-foot putt, the longest putt to ever decide that championship on the final hole.
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Shock, sadness, remembrances from Stewart's peers Stewart's legacy: More than just clothes made the man Neighbors, friends quick to respond Stewart's wife watched plane reports on TV, brother-in-law says
  ESPN reporting from Rusty Wallace's LearJetRealVideo: 28.8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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