A Brookhaven native and frequent visitor of the McComb-Pike County Airport at John E. Lewis Field died in a plane crash near Baker, La., Friday.
John Fowler, 71, of Baton Rouge, was piloting a Super King Air 200 Friday shortly after 1 p.m. when he reported mechanical issues shortly after takeoff from Baton Rouge Metro Airport, about 3 miles away and crashed into a neighborhood, damaging three homes.
Fowler was the only person on board the plane. No other injuries were reported, according to The Associated Press.
Tommy Parker of McComb, a friend of Fowler’s, said Fowler had flown all over the world in the last 50 years.
“I have flown with him,” he said. “He was a fantastic person. He had a tremendous personality.”
Parker said he had spoken to Fowler around 9 a.m. Friday and was waiting on him to arrive at the airport in Fernwood, but Fowler never made it.
“He was a Christian, he loved his country and his family,” Parker said. “Everyone that knew him around the airport, everyone that worked down there, the pilots, all enjoyed being around him. It was an honor to know him.”
Baton Rouge police spokesman Jim Caldwell told the AP that Fowler apparently called the Baton Rouge airport’s tower shortly after takeoff to report an unspecified problem with his King Air 200 twin-engine plane.
“Soon after takeoff he started having problems and subsequently crashed into this neighborhood, hitting one home and crashing into the backs of two others that subsequently caught fire and sustained significant fire damage,” Caldwell said.
Residents said they were used to hearing the roar of airplanes flying over the neighborhood, so it wasn’t unusual when Rosie Winters heard the aircraft. What was unusual was that the noise stopped, she said.
“I heard, ‘Boom!’ ” said Winters, who has lived in the neighborhood for about 10 years. Initially she thought the noise was thunder, drawing her outside. Then she saw the smoke.
“I started running down the street,” she said. “All I could think about were those kids. They are always at home. Then there was a second explosion and I turned around.”
Authorities with the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, but the cause of the accident could take weeks or months to determine.
