Canoe

Saturday, March 3, 2001

Military plane crash kills all aboard

UNADILLA, Ga. (AP) -- A National Guard aircraft flying from Florida to Virginia crashed in central Georgia on Saturday, killing everyone on board, authorities said.

The C-23 Sherpa carried a crew of three and 18 members of the military, said Staff Sgt. Mary Jones, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Military Affairs.

All were killed when the plane crashed in a field near Unadilla, about 30 miles south of Macon, Dooly County Sheriff Van Peavy said.

"It did not hit anything," he said. "We had about three, four, eyewitnesses saw it glide down. ... They describe the plane as dropping down and they watched it get lower and lower, then heard the crash when it hit the ground."

The plane was assigned to the Florida National Guard's 171st Aviation Batallion and based at Lakeland, Fla.

The plane took off from Hurlbert Field near Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and was headed to Oceana Naval Air Station, Va.

The crash happened about 11 a.m., said Judy Smith, a spokeswoman for Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, which had been tracking the flight.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), March 03, 2001