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Plane crash kills 'dean' of area fliers
Bill Law Aviation founder's death called 'tragic'
CARLOS ORTIZ staff photographer
Officers who arrived in a helicopter check out the scene of Friday's twin-engine airplane crash in Clarkson.
[Day in Photos]
By Bennett J. Loudon
and Todd Grady
Staff writers
(August 21, 2004) — CLARKSON — A pilot described as "the dean" of the Rochester-area flying community was killed Friday when his Piper Navajo twin-engine plane crashed in woods just west of Sweden Walker Road.
Bill Law, president and owner of Bill Law Aviation Inc. in Chili, was traveling from Batavia to Rochester about 1:30 p.m. when his plane crashed near Sweden Walker and Ireland roads.
Law was the only person on board.
Moments before the crash, 911 received a report of a plane with engine trouble, followed by a report of a downed plane, according to Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn.
Officials have not officially released the identity of the pilot, but John Dougherty, chief instructor pilot of Law's aviation school, said he received confirmation that it was Law.
"Bill was one of the most skilled pilots I ever knew," said Dennis Christiano of Mendon, who preceded Law as president of the defunct Rochester Pilots Association. "In our vernacular, he was 'a good stick.' Bill really understood airplanes. He understood how to fly them. He was intuitive. He was a great flier."
Law founded a flight school on Scottsville Road in 1982 that bore his name. The company Web site claims it is the largest in New York state.
Terry Slaybaugh, director of the Greater Rochester International Airport, called the news "tragic."
"You can talk to people in this community, literally dozens of people who had their first experience in an airplane through Bill Law Aviation," Slaybaugh said. "He was part of the landscape at our airport. It's going to be tough replacing him because he was one of those neat characters that makes the airport a fun place to work."
Robert Dunbar, Law's accountant and a longtime friend, was one of those who learned to fly from Law.
"It was a normal business relationship, but it was more than that," Dunbar said. "It was a friendship, and I helped him as much as I could. He helped me in my aviation learning education as much as he could."
Don Mammarello, operations supervisor at the Greater Rochester International Airport, called Law a "regular guy" and "one of the boys" despite the success of his flying school.
"He always offered you a cup of coffee," said Mammarello, who oversaw snow removal on the runway Law used for his flight school.
The pilot advised the Rochester flight tower that he was having problems, O'Flynn said. Several pieces of the plane were strewn across the crash site. After the crash, there was a fire. According to O'Flynn and witnesses at the scene, the plane struck several trees, breaking off branches. It crashed 50 to 100 yards away.
Several Clarkson residents heard the plane sputtering and saw smoke after it went down.
Leon Holberton of 51 Orchard Ave. said the plane crashed onto property owned by his relatives, Jeff and Amy Ferkins, landing about 200 feet from their cabin. He said the Ferkins, who have two young children, are on vacation.
Holberton and his son, Justin, 11, said they heard the plane roaring across the sky "like a freight train." Then it began "spitting and sputtering." It then flew over Sweden Walker Road. Soon after, they heard a "big boom."
The father and son went to the crash site, where they said flames were about 60- to 70-feet high. "All you could see was the tail section," Justin said. "The rest of the plane was on fire."
The Holbertons said they yelled but no one answered. "We couldn't get too close," Leon Holberton said.
Brandon Lorek, 13, was jumping on a trampoline in the driveway of his home at 2706 Sweden Walker Road when he first heard the plane. He also heard the engine "begin to sputter" as it traveled from west to east over his house. Lorek said the plane cleared a power line by only about 5 feet.
"Then it went over the trees, but then it went down into them," he said. "There was a big puff of black smoke coming out of there and then there was as big boom. A couple of minutes after it went down, you could hear the tank explode."
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
Ambulances left the scene shortly after 2:30 p.m. The Monroe County Medical Examiner's van left at 3:59 p.m.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Includes reporting by staff writer Donna Jackal.
Bill Law Aviation founder's death called 'tragic'
Officers who arrived in a helicopter check out the scene of Friday's twin-engine airplane crash in Clarkson.
[Day in Photos]
By Bennett J. Loudon
and Todd Grady
Staff writers
(August 21, 2004) — CLARKSON — A pilot described as "the dean" of the Rochester-area flying community was killed Friday when his Piper Navajo twin-engine plane crashed in woods just west of Sweden Walker Road.
Bill Law, president and owner of Bill Law Aviation Inc. in Chili, was traveling from Batavia to Rochester about 1:30 p.m. when his plane crashed near Sweden Walker and Ireland roads.
Law was the only person on board.
Moments before the crash, 911 received a report of a plane with engine trouble, followed by a report of a downed plane, according to Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn.
Officials have not officially released the identity of the pilot, but John Dougherty, chief instructor pilot of Law's aviation school, said he received confirmation that it was Law.
"Bill was one of the most skilled pilots I ever knew," said Dennis Christiano of Mendon, who preceded Law as president of the defunct Rochester Pilots Association. "In our vernacular, he was 'a good stick.' Bill really understood airplanes. He understood how to fly them. He was intuitive. He was a great flier."
Law founded a flight school on Scottsville Road in 1982 that bore his name. The company Web site claims it is the largest in New York state.
Terry Slaybaugh, director of the Greater Rochester International Airport, called the news "tragic."
"You can talk to people in this community, literally dozens of people who had their first experience in an airplane through Bill Law Aviation," Slaybaugh said. "He was part of the landscape at our airport. It's going to be tough replacing him because he was one of those neat characters that makes the airport a fun place to work."
Robert Dunbar, Law's accountant and a longtime friend, was one of those who learned to fly from Law.
"It was a normal business relationship, but it was more than that," Dunbar said. "It was a friendship, and I helped him as much as I could. He helped me in my aviation learning education as much as he could."
Don Mammarello, operations supervisor at the Greater Rochester International Airport, called Law a "regular guy" and "one of the boys" despite the success of his flying school.
"He always offered you a cup of coffee," said Mammarello, who oversaw snow removal on the runway Law used for his flight school.
The pilot advised the Rochester flight tower that he was having problems, O'Flynn said. Several pieces of the plane were strewn across the crash site. After the crash, there was a fire. According to O'Flynn and witnesses at the scene, the plane struck several trees, breaking off branches. It crashed 50 to 100 yards away.
Several Clarkson residents heard the plane sputtering and saw smoke after it went down.
Leon Holberton of 51 Orchard Ave. said the plane crashed onto property owned by his relatives, Jeff and Amy Ferkins, landing about 200 feet from their cabin. He said the Ferkins, who have two young children, are on vacation.
Holberton and his son, Justin, 11, said they heard the plane roaring across the sky "like a freight train." Then it began "spitting and sputtering." It then flew over Sweden Walker Road. Soon after, they heard a "big boom."
The father and son went to the crash site, where they said flames were about 60- to 70-feet high. "All you could see was the tail section," Justin said. "The rest of the plane was on fire."
The Holbertons said they yelled but no one answered. "We couldn't get too close," Leon Holberton said.
Brandon Lorek, 13, was jumping on a trampoline in the driveway of his home at 2706 Sweden Walker Road when he first heard the plane. He also heard the engine "begin to sputter" as it traveled from west to east over his house. Lorek said the plane cleared a power line by only about 5 feet.
"Then it went over the trees, but then it went down into them," he said. "There was a big puff of black smoke coming out of there and then there was as big boom. A couple of minutes after it went down, you could hear the tank explode."
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
Ambulances left the scene shortly after 2:30 p.m. The Monroe County Medical Examiner's van left at 3:59 p.m.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Includes reporting by staff writer Donna Jackal.
