UPDATE: Two bodies removed from downed Piper Aztec plane in St. Thomas
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, USVI- Pilot Kirby Hodge is still missing, but two bodies tentatively identified as Rachel Hamilton and Darwin Carr were discovered Sunday October 21, 2012 inside the Piper Aztec plane that went missing on October 13, 2012 on a routine newspaper delivery run from St. Croix to St. Thomas.
“They were both in the fuselage,” Government House spokesman Jean Greaux said Sunday.
He said the identification is tentative pending an autopsy, but physical characteristics matched those of Hamilton and Carr.
The autopsy will also show the cause of death.
The plane was discovered Saturday lying upside down in 100 feet of water with one wing detached. Searchers initially thought it contained just one body, but further inspection early Sunday after the plane was raised from the waters near Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas showed there were two, Greaux said.
The lone survivor, Valerie Jackson Thompson, was pulled from the water about nine hours after the plane disappeared.
The plane, which crashed a little over five miles short of the St. Thomas Airport airport, was located Saturday afternoon. Using radar coordinates supplied Oct. 18 by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Team in Florida, searchers were able to close in on the area after they spotted an oil sheen on the water. The sheen was a little over one mile northeast of where the plane fell off the radar a week ago.
The plane was later towed to the waters just north of the airport.
Around 11:30 p.m. Saturday recovery crews led by Planning and Natural Resources Department suspended the effort to remove what was then thought to be the body of one passenger due to lighting limitations and safety concerns. The plane was secured overnight.
The effort resumed at sunrise Sunday. Once a crane lifted the wreckage, crews could see there were two bodies inside the aircraft.
The crane removed the plane from the waters off the airport onto a platform truck located at the northwestern end of the airport. Greaux said that the plane will remain on the flatbed truck until investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board arrive sometime during the week to determine the cause of the accident.
Staff from the Medical Examiner’s Office, the Police Department Forensics Unit and Planning and Natural Resource Department enforcement officers removed the bodies.
Greaux said government officials notified the families of Hamilton and Carr late Sunday morning that the aircraft had been found, that the two bodies had been recovered and that in all likelihood, the bodies were those of Hamilton and Carr.
The U.S. Coast Guard launched a search shortly after the plane went down. It suspended operations at sunset October 15, 2012 but local government agencies as well as others continued the search throughout the week.
Meanwhile, the family of popular pilot Kirby Hodge have already announced that his proud aviation leagcy will be upheld in his memory.
The announcement, about the immediate plans for Anguilla Air Express and Rainbow International Airlines, came in a press release on Tuesday, October 16, from his wife, Rose Hodge, who is also the company’s Executive Administrator.
“We intend to uphold the legacy that Kirby left us,” she stated. “I know he can never be replaced, but we will definitely endeavour to come as close as possible to the service that Kirby personally provided and that is synonymous with who we are as a company. Thank you for your support.”
Meanwhile, Ms. Donna Banks, a close associate of the company, issued the following release the same day:
“The Management and Staff of Anguilla Air Express and Rainbow International Airlines today expressed their thanks and appreciation to the residents of Anguilla and St. Thomas, in particular, where Kirby called home; members of the aviation community and the travel industry; the United States Coast Guard; the St. Thomas Rescue Service; business associates; passengers and friends both regionally and internationally; and all who expressed their concerns and well wishes; demonstrated their acts of love and affection as a result of the Saturday October 13, 2012 incident when a private aircraft piloted by Captain Kirby Hodge and travelling between St. Croix and St. Thomas was lost in flight.
“Captain Kirby Hodge was the Director of Operations for Rainbow International Airlines, a US-registered airline company. [It was] started out of a need to provide on demand luxury charter service for both the business and leisure market as well as the need to provide emergency medical evacuations. He held a FAA Airline Transport License, flew commercially for 38 years, with over 30,000 flight hours logged. Kirby was type-rated in the Boeing 737, DC 3 and the Citation 550. He was a Captain for Amerijet, Aero Virgin, Air BVI and Marshalls before starting Rainbow International in 1996.
“Kirby was respected throughout the Caribbean region, the United States and internationally, for his professionalism, his commitment to serving others and his soft-spoken confidence transmitted to all passengers. Kirby lived to fly and loved to help others. Safety was always his priority; and he ensured that every division of his company operated at the highest levels of efficiency be it the daily flights between Anguilla and San Juan; the executive charter service or air ambulance service to any island in the Caribbean and points within the US.
“Kirby will never be replaced and his legacy of love, kindness, devotion and compassion will forever be etched in the minds of those he came into contact with. Kirby is survived by his caring and devoted wife of 28 years, Rose Hodge, who was his tower of strength; as well as two sons.”
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57 Responses to “UPDATE: Two bodies removed from downed Piper Aztec plane in St. Thomas”
I do have a question, if the ports in the USVI were closed because of weather (wind and rain) why is the airport still open. I know the three in BVI were announced as open... I hope this didn't have anything to do with it. And I don't understand the comment that the plane's certification status had been cancelled. Was it no longer air-worthy?? it is a tragedy.
dale.capozzoli@yahoo.co.uk
F$%#^ you my uncle was a great pilot and that stupid certification didn't affect his talent as a pilot or a business man. Go to hell
But when an aircraft's certification has expired due to age and miles, it means that it is in danger of simply falling apart in the sky. That might have happened here based on the debris field on such a routine flight by a skilled pilot. As a stranger following this from far away, my thoughts and prayers are with you in this very very difficult time.
my uncle was a great pilot and still is this i no bc i flew plenty times with him in which he taught me how to fly and no damn certification gonna change who he was so keep ur comments if not positive to yourself
I'm hoping he is safe somewhere. Anywhere really. That he'll come back in five years with a bow and arrow to save the day for someone else.
My heart goes out to the family and friends of Kirby and his passengers. Whatever else anyone might say about the certification on his plane or not, that pilot was a GIANT of a MAN. A modern-day knight. A champion to children. And someone to be admired if you only knew one small portion of how truly generous and kind he was. I never met him, but I knew him. Generosity like his could only be genuine.
Listen Ron John or watever your name is pretty sure your not a pilot nor do you have any flying skills you was not there to no wat happen for you to be speculating pilot or mechanical error my uncle would never put his or no one else life in jeopardy so his decision to fly was his BC he was confident to do so people like you feed into whatever the media tells you about an expired certificate that probably wasn't even the case so do me a favor and backoff like I said earlier if you don't have anything positive please keep your comments to yourself
YOU MS.SHAINA NOBOY AINT SAY YOUR UNCLE AINT A GOOD PILOT BUT YOU HAVE TO REALIZE A PLANE GROUNDED BY FAA IN IS IN VIOLATION ALSO LIVES HAVE BEEN TAKEN YOU DONT KNOW WHO IS WHO ON THIS CHANT SO YOU NEED TO STOP AND BY THE WAY MY COUSIN IS STILL MISSING THE PLANE WAS GROUNDED YOU ARE SELFISH IN MY EYES LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST FAMILYS ARE HURTING AND THIS THE BULL$h1+ YOU TALKING ON HERE GIRL PLEASE IF HE IS ALIVE HE IS IN BAILES OF TROUBLE SHOW SOME RESPECT ALL OF US ARE HURTING HERE OK
MY NAME IS ANDRICK / I WILL LIKE TO SAY JUST A LITTLE
KIRBY WAS A VERY SPECIAL UNCLE TO MY BROTHER ADREAN AN, I AM VERY SURE BUZZ ALSO
I AM VERY SAD TO HEAR ABOUT THE ACCIDENT THAT HAS HAPPENED TO KIRBY ALONG WITH HAMILTON,CARR,AND, SURVIVED VALERIER JACKSON/ I WILL FOREVER KEEP YOU ALL IN MY PRAYERS/ TWO SONS WIFE FAMILY ALONG WITH THE FRIENDS THAT KIRBY HAS GIVEN MANY SMILES FILLED WITH LOVE AN, GUIDANCE/ I ANDRICK REY LEAVE YOU ALL WITH THESE WORDS / REMEMBER HE IS OUT OF HIS BODY KNOW /WHEN YOU (ALL) WILL LIKE TO SEE HIM AGAIN (CLOSE YOUR EYES )AN, ENJOY KIRBY,HAMILTON,AN,CARR :) MAY HE STAY WITH YOU VALERIE JACKSON
Ahyou ppl wikkid. This company has three planes registered with the FAA and all licenses are VALID!