Lancaster security business owner, Camp Hill dentist killed in plane crash
Lancaster PA April 21 2018 The owner of a Lancaster security business and a Camp Hill dentist were killed instantly Thursday morning when their single-engine plane crashed within feet of a house in western Pennsylvania.
James Durkin, co-owner of Choice Security Services LLC, of 200 Richardson Drive in East Hempfield Township, was the pilot of the plane that had taken off from Lancaster Airport, according to Ray Bear, co-owner of the company.
Also killed was a friend of Durkin and Bear, Dr. Stephen Grady, a dentist at Center Street Family Dentistry, according to Bear.
Both men were in their 60s.
The Blair County Coroner’s Office confirmed the identities of the two victims to LNP Friday morning after families had been notified.
The two had left Lancaster Airport at 7:34 a.m. en route to South Bend, Indiana, to attend a University of Notre Dame Alumni Association Leadership Conference.
Durkin was treasurer of the Notre Dame Club of Harrisburg. Grady was its president.
“He was a great friend and had a great family,” Bear said of his partner. After working together in several other security companies, he said he and Durkin formed Choice Security in 2001. It has 28 fulltime employees.
The Cirrus SR22 aircraft crashed at 8:44 a.m. in a residential area of Williamsburg, east of Altoona in Blair County, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Had he stayed in the air another three-quarters of a second, the plane could have run into the residence,” Roger Oswald, a Blair County deputy coroner who was at the scene, told LNP.
He said the plane exploded into flames on impact with the ground and broke into many pieces. Photos from the scene showed pieces of the plane in a tree beside the home and next to a basketball goal.
He said the home’s owner and wife were in an adjacent building they run as an auto repair shop. The husband tried to put out flames with a garden hose but was driven back by the intense heat.
“The family in the residence is extremely devastated about the whole thing,” Oswald said.
He said three investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration arrived at the site of the crash Thursday afternoon.
The FAA will assist the National Transportation Safety Board, which will determine the probable cause of the accident.
NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said Friday afternoon that the remains of the plane were being transported to a safe site for inspection. Communications between the pilot and any air traffic controllers also will be examined.
A final determination of the cause could take 12-18 months, he said.
According to FlightAware.com, a single-engine plane departed Lancaster at 7:34 a.m. and was scheduled to land at South Bend International Airport in Indiana. The website, which tracks flights, indicates the plane was diverted while en route to South Bend.
A later post showed that the plane was scheduled to arrive at Altoona-Blair County Airport, which is 14 miles south of Altoona, at 8:51 a.m. Thursday. It crashed seven minutes before the estimated arrival time.
Blair County Coroner Patricia Ross told the Altoona Mirror that both men were killed on impact.
lancasteronline.com
