Bizarre Plane Crash in Florida
01-12-2009, 12:24 PM
#11
Flying Farmer
Joined APC: Jul 2006
Position: Turbo-props' and John Deere's
Posts: 3,160
Authorities hunt for pilot who made bogus distress call - CNN.com
It's the most popular topic right now on CNN. Surely them southern boy's got some good ole' bloodhounds to find'm
It's the most popular topic right now on CNN. Surely them southern boy's got some good ole' bloodhounds to find'm
01-12-2009, 02:15 PM
#12
Line Holder
Joined APC: Sep 2008
Posts: 57
Track log from FlightAware.....
FlightAware > Live Flight Tracker > Track Log > N428DC > 11-Jan-2009 > KSCD-KDTS
FlightAware > Live Flight Tracker > Track Log > N428DC > 11-Jan-2009 > KSCD-KDTS
01-12-2009, 07:37 PM
#17
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2006
Posts: 584
The financial companies he owned were under investigation.
Did missing pilot fake his death? - Life- msnbc.com
MILTON, Fla. - An Indiana businessman whose financial management companies were under investigation apparently bailed out of his small plane and let it crash in what may have been an elaborate attempt to fake his own death.
Authorities searched Monday for Marcus Schrenker after he apparently made a phony distress call and secretly parachuted to safety near Birmingham, Ala. His single-engine plane continued flying on autopilot and eventually crashed late Sunday more than 200 miles away in a swampy area of the Florida Panhandle.
In the weeks before the crash, Schrenker's life was spiraling downward: He lost a half-million-dollar judgment against one of his companies when he skipped a court hearing. His wife filed for divorce, and investigators probing his businesses for possible securities violations searched his home and office.
Authorities believe Schrenker was last seen Monday morning in Childersburg, Ala., just south of Birmingham, when a man using his Indiana driver's license told police that he'd been in a canoe accident. He was wet only from the knees down and had what appeared to be goggles made for flying.
The investigation into the crash began Sunday night, when Schrenker's single-engine Piper Malibu crashed in a swampy area of north Florida.
No signs of blood
The plane was en route from Anderson, Ind., to the Florida Panhandle city of Destin when Schrenker reported turbulence. He said the windshield had imploded and he was bleeding profusely, according to the sheriff's office in Santa Rosa County, where the plane crashed.
But when investigators found the plane, its door was ajar and the wreckage showed no signs of blood or the blown windshield Schrenker had reported. The sheriff's office said Schrenker appeared to have intentionally abandoned his plane.
After he stopped responding to air traffic controllers, military jets tried to intercept the plane. They noticed the door was open and the cockpit was dark and continued to follow it until it crashed in a bayou surrounded by homes.
Bill and Debbie Timbie, whose house is less than 100 yards from where the plane crashed, were home Sunday night when they heard the jets flying overhead. Bill Timbie gave rescuers looking for the downed plane a ride through the swamp in his canoe.
"Now, after you think about it, it could have been real bad, it could have taken out two or three houses," he said Monday.
The case grew stranger Monday morning, when a man with Schrenker's license told police in Childersburg, Ala. — about 225 miles from where the plane crashed — that he'd been in a canoe accident. He was wet only from the knees down and had what appeared to be flying goggles.
The officers, unaware of the Florida plane crash, took him to a hotel. He was gone by the time they returned. They learned he had paid for his room in cash before putting on a black cap and running into the woods next to the hotel.
Businesses under investigation
Authorities in Indiana have said little about the nature of the investigation into Schrenker's businesses — Heritage Wealth Management Inc., Heritage Insurance Services Inc. and Icon Wealth Management — wealth-management companies that provide financial advice. Jim Gavin, a spokesman for Indiana's secretary of state, said investigators are looking at possible securities violations, and officers who searched Schrenker's home Dec. 31 were looking for laptops, computers, notes, photos and other documents related to those companies.
Court records show his wife, Michelle, filed for divorce a day before the searches.
Gavin said the Indiana Securities Division obtained a temporary restraining order Monday freezing the personal assets of Marcus Schrenker and Michelle Schrenker and the assets of the three companies.
On Friday, two days before the crash, a federal judge in Maryland issued a $533,500 judgment against Heritage Wealth Management Inc., and in favor of OM Financial Life Insurance Co. The OM lawsuit contended that Heritage Wealth Management should have returned more than $230,000 in commissions because there were problems with insurance or annuity plans Heritage had sold.
'Outstanding pilot'
Schrenker was an accomplished pilot with a background in aerobatics, said Ron Smith, an interim manager at Anderson Municipal Airport. He usually flew out of the airport about once a week, making regular trips to Florida, he said.
"He's an outstanding pilot, from what I understand," Smith said. "If he can fly aerobatics and a Meridian, you've got to be pretty decent."
Those skills made Tom Britt, who edits a newsletter for the affluent Indianapolis suburb in which Schrenker lives, suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the crash when he heard about it from a local reporter. Britt knew about the securities investigation.
"I said, 'Do they have his body? Call the police and tell them to pull the teeth out of it, because if there's a body in that plane, I guarantee that's not Marc Schrenker,'" Britt said.
Residents jokingly call the community where Schrenker lives, which overlooks a reservoir, "Cocktail Cove" because the boaters plying its waters often have a mixed drink in hand.
The serene setting belies what Britt described as a sometimes tense relationship between Schrenker and his neighbors. He said Schrenker has two sides — one very cordial and generous, the other threatening and litigious — and that many in the neighborhood had run-ins with him and "didn't care too much for him."
Did missing pilot fake his death? - Life- msnbc.com
MILTON, Fla. - An Indiana businessman whose financial management companies were under investigation apparently bailed out of his small plane and let it crash in what may have been an elaborate attempt to fake his own death.
Authorities searched Monday for Marcus Schrenker after he apparently made a phony distress call and secretly parachuted to safety near Birmingham, Ala. His single-engine plane continued flying on autopilot and eventually crashed late Sunday more than 200 miles away in a swampy area of the Florida Panhandle.
In the weeks before the crash, Schrenker's life was spiraling downward: He lost a half-million-dollar judgment against one of his companies when he skipped a court hearing. His wife filed for divorce, and investigators probing his businesses for possible securities violations searched his home and office.
Authorities believe Schrenker was last seen Monday morning in Childersburg, Ala., just south of Birmingham, when a man using his Indiana driver's license told police that he'd been in a canoe accident. He was wet only from the knees down and had what appeared to be goggles made for flying.
The investigation into the crash began Sunday night, when Schrenker's single-engine Piper Malibu crashed in a swampy area of north Florida.
No signs of blood
The plane was en route from Anderson, Ind., to the Florida Panhandle city of Destin when Schrenker reported turbulence. He said the windshield had imploded and he was bleeding profusely, according to the sheriff's office in Santa Rosa County, where the plane crashed.
But when investigators found the plane, its door was ajar and the wreckage showed no signs of blood or the blown windshield Schrenker had reported. The sheriff's office said Schrenker appeared to have intentionally abandoned his plane.
After he stopped responding to air traffic controllers, military jets tried to intercept the plane. They noticed the door was open and the cockpit was dark and continued to follow it until it crashed in a bayou surrounded by homes.
Bill and Debbie Timbie, whose house is less than 100 yards from where the plane crashed, were home Sunday night when they heard the jets flying overhead. Bill Timbie gave rescuers looking for the downed plane a ride through the swamp in his canoe.
"Now, after you think about it, it could have been real bad, it could have taken out two or three houses," he said Monday.
The case grew stranger Monday morning, when a man with Schrenker's license told police in Childersburg, Ala. — about 225 miles from where the plane crashed — that he'd been in a canoe accident. He was wet only from the knees down and had what appeared to be flying goggles.
The officers, unaware of the Florida plane crash, took him to a hotel. He was gone by the time they returned. They learned he had paid for his room in cash before putting on a black cap and running into the woods next to the hotel.
Businesses under investigation
Authorities in Indiana have said little about the nature of the investigation into Schrenker's businesses — Heritage Wealth Management Inc., Heritage Insurance Services Inc. and Icon Wealth Management — wealth-management companies that provide financial advice. Jim Gavin, a spokesman for Indiana's secretary of state, said investigators are looking at possible securities violations, and officers who searched Schrenker's home Dec. 31 were looking for laptops, computers, notes, photos and other documents related to those companies.
Court records show his wife, Michelle, filed for divorce a day before the searches.
Gavin said the Indiana Securities Division obtained a temporary restraining order Monday freezing the personal assets of Marcus Schrenker and Michelle Schrenker and the assets of the three companies.
On Friday, two days before the crash, a federal judge in Maryland issued a $533,500 judgment against Heritage Wealth Management Inc., and in favor of OM Financial Life Insurance Co. The OM lawsuit contended that Heritage Wealth Management should have returned more than $230,000 in commissions because there were problems with insurance or annuity plans Heritage had sold.
'Outstanding pilot'
Schrenker was an accomplished pilot with a background in aerobatics, said Ron Smith, an interim manager at Anderson Municipal Airport. He usually flew out of the airport about once a week, making regular trips to Florida, he said.
"He's an outstanding pilot, from what I understand," Smith said. "If he can fly aerobatics and a Meridian, you've got to be pretty decent."
Those skills made Tom Britt, who edits a newsletter for the affluent Indianapolis suburb in which Schrenker lives, suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the crash when he heard about it from a local reporter. Britt knew about the securities investigation.
"I said, 'Do they have his body? Call the police and tell them to pull the teeth out of it, because if there's a body in that plane, I guarantee that's not Marc Schrenker,'" Britt said.
Residents jokingly call the community where Schrenker lives, which overlooks a reservoir, "Cocktail Cove" because the boaters plying its waters often have a mixed drink in hand.
The serene setting belies what Britt described as a sometimes tense relationship between Schrenker and his neighbors. He said Schrenker has two sides — one very cordial and generous, the other threatening and litigious — and that many in the neighborhood had run-ins with him and "didn't care too much for him."
01-13-2009, 01:21 AM
#18
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2008
Position: new guy
Posts: 382
That man deserves to be put to death. His plane landed not far from where my wife and daughter are living. How do you ditch a plane not knowing where it will land? I would track this man down myself if his plane had hit my family's house. I just figured it out to be about 2.5 miles from my family's location.
Last edited by milky; 01-13-2009 at 01:34 AM.
01-13-2009, 04:04 AM
#19
Line Holder
Joined APC: Sep 2008
Posts: 57
Now if he could do aerobatics in a Meridian.....now that would be something. 
01-13-2009, 04:37 AM
#20
Flying Farmer
Joined APC: Jul 2006
Position: Turbo-props' and John Deere's
Posts: 3,160
I'll also put a +1 on the ejection comment, the guys out of AID should keep the lips zipped until they really think about what they are talking about.
Here's a video of the wreckage, it's pretty much a total loss. Wonder if I could get ahold of that engine
Judge freezes assets of pilot whose plane crashed without him - CNN.com
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