Posted by A seasoned flight instructor (and retired crop duster) joined us in the waiting area after we landed. We were at the General Dewitt Spain airport in Memphis, on the banks of the Mississippi River, and he had traveled two hours to do some tail wheel training. As he mentally reconnected with the airport, he vaguely recalled an accident that occurred several years prior, but was murky on the details.
The airport ops guy filled in some blanks while building on the mystery. A doctor was returning to Memphis and tried to land in poor weather. He crashed in the river and the authorities never found the doctor or his plane. “Some say he may have been a gambler…”
“He was a God-fearing Christian who delivered both my kids,” said a voice from the office. She explained that Dr. Gaylon Smith and his wife Deanna were returning from Disney World in Florida with season passes for their family and that Dr. Smith was a respected community leader. “Just wanted to set the record straight.”
But what of the plane? According to the NTSB report, the aircraft, pilot, and passenger were indeed never found. The Piper PA-46 was on an instrument approach and evidence showed the pilot had a difficult time getting established on the final course. Should conditions prevent the pilot from landing, ATC instructed a climbing right turn to 2,000 feet (the river is to the right of the airport). With no plane or pilot, the NTSB reached no conclusions. A reasonable explanation could be that conditions required a missed approach and something failed as it was executed.
Eighteen years, four months, and twenty days later, we took off on the same runway in similar conditions with ATC directing a right turn-out, climb to 2,000 feet. Thanks to Dr. Smith, I brought my “A” game that day. RIP
