Elk Hunters Killed in Plane crash

[HullinPhx]

Not sure if anybody had seen this yet, 3 men were killed in a plane crash while spotting elk from the air, My guess is they had unit 8 tags not sure though.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1117missingplane-ON.html

 

[gil_wy]

Uh, just curious, but how do you know they were spotting elk? It doesn't say anyhting about elk or hunting in the article.......

 

[Chef]

"The Cessna 337 Skymaster was on an elk spotting flight Tuesday when it failed to return to Williams as scheduled, said Maj. Carla Day of the Civil Air Patrol."

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Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

 

[Ropinfool]

They were probably with USO.

 

[gil_wy]

my bad...

 

[HullinPhx]

Regaudless of who they were with it is still a bad thing for anybody to die

 

[sremim]

It is sad they died, however what they were doing was ILLEGAL. It was not anybody from USO or any other big-name outfit. The pilot was a contractor from Sedona, one person was from Surprise, and the other from Peoria. It sounds to me like it was just a friend who new a friend who could take them to spot some elk.

 

[sremim]

Here is the article from the AZDailysun:

Hunters, pilot killed in Kaibab Forest plane crash

By LARRY HENDRICKS
Sun Staff Reporter
11/18/2004


A Sedona pilot and two hunters reported missing on an aerial scouting trip from the Williams Airport Tuesday were found dead amid the wreckage of their plane Wednesday morning.
Capt. Jeff Drayton of the Coconino County Sheriff's Office said that the three men had taken off from the airport at approximately 3:30 p.m. and were reported missing Wednesday morning.

The cause of the crash is unknown.

Sedona resident Jack Huffman, the pilot and owner of the 1967 Cessna Skymaster C-337B, was hired by Dan Peters of Glendale and Tom Rossi of Surprise to conduct an aerial scouting trip of Unit 8 hunting area.

The area stretches about 600 square miles from Parks east to Ash Fork and south to Paulden.

"They had been in the area scouting for elk before the start of the season," Drayton said.



When the three were reported missing, the sheriff's office contacted the Civil Air Patrol and the Department of Public Safety to begin an aerial search Wednesday morning.

At approxmately 10:30 a.m., a CAP crew spotted what appeared to be wreckage near the small community of Drake in Yavapai County.

A DPS helicopter was dispatched to the area, Drayton said.

The crew found the wreckage of a plane similar to Huffman's Cessna, but were unable to immediately identify the plane.

Three bodies were found inside the wreckage, Drayton said. Although it appears likely that the bodies are those of Huffman, Peters and Rossi, Drayton said the medical examiner will make positive identification.

Because the crash site was ultimately found in Yavapai County, the case was transferred to the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board was scheduled to respond to the crash site.


Reporter Larry Hendricks can be reached at [email protected] or 556-2262.

 

[azelkmaniac]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-18-04 AT 03:34PM (MST)[p]Holy cow PinonPaul & Screamim, A couple of guys from our family of hunters pass away in a plane crash, and the first thing you start up on is it was illegal to be doing what they were doing. Actually, if there was a hunt of any kind open while they were flying, i.e. deer, bear, elk, or any other big game.... then you are correct in saying that it was illegal. It does not state that once hunting season opens, which like you said is archery deer, that all flying must cease, it says that all flying is restricted 48 hours from the opening of a hunt. In this case was probably late bull which would have made them perfectly legal. Now if there was some kind of hunt going on, then again, they were in the wrong, but that does not take away the fact that maybe a little respect ought to be showed towards them and keep from salting the wound by claiming that the reason they ended up that way was a legality issue. Chris

 

[sremim]

Settle down tough guy. I was just pointing something out. Obviously you did not read the first part of my post. People were asking if it was USO. I answered their question. Since when is it disrespectful to point something out that someone was doing, regardless if they died. Breath.

 

[cpsandman]

How about we leave this thread right where its at and pray for their families. Bad deal reguardless of what they were doing.

CPSANDMAN
"The Buck stops here...I hope!"

 

[KCR]

Dito what CPSANDMAN said!!!!
Kevin

 

[antlerboy]

Since the plane went down on Tuesday it was totally legal for them to be flying. They were reported missing and on Wednesday morning they were found. Had they been flying on Wednesday then yes it would have been illegal but they crashed on Tues.
I personally know 3 people that witnessed these guys flying for several days prior to the crash and they have said that they were flying like maniacs. They said that they were flying extremely low, just over the trees, and buzzing the rims of the mountains around there dangerously low also. One of the guys called his buddy and told him that the pilot was nuts and wouldn't be surprised if they crashed. Well the next day they did.
I'll email this topic to my friend that did see them flying and see if he'll post anything.

Josh Epperson

 

[Chef]

Interesting.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

 

[luckynevadahunter]

In reguards to you claiming what Tom and Dan doing was illegal you are wrong. they were my closest friends and I did call Game and Fish, just like they personally did themselves prior to taking their flight. I was told by Game and Fish, as were tom and dan that it was perfectly legal to fly on tuesday because it was more than 48 hours prior to the opener and the Bear hunt in that unit had closed due to a sow harvest limit. In the grand scheme of things it is might seem unimportant to most wether it is illegal or not, but these two guys never did anything illegal and I think it is a shame that their names are being dragged through the mud where their friends and family have to read about it, and they due read this forum. Please have a little respect for them because I personally know how hard of a time they, as well as me are having dealing with tremendous tragedy. I know you said you didn't mean any disrespect, but claiming that they broke the law when they didn't is disrespectful and somehow implies they deserved it. I suggest that you call game and fish next time before you start making accusations. greg

 

[luckynevadahunter]

Please get your facts straight when you are talking about something as sensitive as this issue. What Tom and Dan were doing was completely legal according to the AZG&F Dept., which both they and I called on before their flight to verify. There was no other hunt in that unit at that time and it was more than 48 hours prior to the start of their hunt. These two individuals were two of the most honest and respectable hunters in the state of az, as well as very dedicated family men. As you stated in one of your posts that it is not wrong to merely point out what someone is doing. This is only true if in fact what you are saying is true, which it wasn't. If you don't believe me call the AZG&F Dept and ask them about the incident.602 942-3000. Regardless of what you beleieve you could stand to be a little more respectfull to their friends and family who read this forum. for those of us who knew Tom and Dan we would like for them to remembered for who they were and all their contributions to the wildlife of AZ, not for being wrongfully accused of doing something Illegal

 

[archeryelkaholic]

I had a unit 8 archery tag 4 years ago. Dry as a BONE there. Then a record is killed the next year. Check the kill in that unit for that year. DAMN near zero.

Archer