Great article on Mark from the Nantucket Newspaper that includes a picture of Mark in front on the 414 I use to fly. I figured some people might find this helpful, because several people have sent me messages trying to figure out if they knew Mark from somewhere.
http://www.ack.net/061908Conway.html
Mark Conway died doing what he loved. Conway, a 1982 graduate of Nantucket High School, was killed Wednesday morning when the freight plane he was flying crashed just after takeoff at Barnstable Memorial Airport. It was on Conway’s morning run from Hyannis to Nantucket, transporting UPS cargo in a deHavilland Twin Otter aircraft operated by Wiggins Airways, when the plane rolled and crashed nose-first just past the runway.
Conway, 43, was an experienced pilot, a painter, a standout football player for the Whalers, and the father of two daughters. He was fondly remembered by friends and family Wednesday for his sense of humor, his ability as a pilot and the relationships he left behind.
“I basically grew up with him, and I would say he was one of the most upbeat, happiest people I’ve met in my life,” said Conway’s high school classmate Robbie Mack. “I found out this morning and I’m still in shock. Every time I would go over there we’d see each other in the airport and he’d take the time, as busy as he was, to catch up on each other’s lives. He’s irreplaceable.”
The crash happened just after 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, and the cause has not yet been determined. Barnstable airport manager Quincy Mosby said investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were traveling to Hyannis from Miami, Fla., Wednesday afternoon, and may release their initial assessment by Thursday morning. Weather was not likely a factor in the crash, Mosby said during a press conference, as the incident occurred under clear skies and light winds.
Conway had started working for Wiggins Airways in December 2007, a job in which he would make a morning run to Nantucket and an afternoon flight back to Hyannis Monday through Friday, transporting UPS cargo back and forth to the island where he grew up.
Following his graduation from Nantucket High School, Conway worked as a firefighter, served in the military, and eventually moved to Cape Cod, but commuted back to the island for his painting business.
A former Island Airlines pilot and one of the founders of the Nantucket Shuttle commuter airline, Conway had been flying since 1984.
“He was a great friend and a great pilot,” said Joe Swain. “We’re going to miss him a lot.”
Conway lived in Marstons Mills on Cape Cod, but still had many family members left on Nantucket, including his parents, Shirley Watts and Stanley “Bushy” Conway, his brothers Ronald and Robert Conway, and a nephew, Ryan Conway. He is survived by his wife, Laurie, and their two daughters, Mary Catherine and Caroline.
“He was a great guy and a very experienced pilot,” said another classmate, David Gray. “We went to school together, we got in the fire department together. We ended up going our separate ways, but we kept in touch. It’s a shame. He was an all-around great guy.”
In January 2002, Conway actually survived a crash landing in his 1966 Piper Cherokee 140, which lost engine power on its approach to Nantucket Memorial Airport.
“It was a real easy landing right up until the very end,” Conway told The Inquirer and Mirror after the crash. “The plane touched down once, bounced, touched down again, and then hit a little tree, which spun me around. You’d think by looking at that tree, the plane would have just taken the top off no problem. But I hit it and it whipped the plane right around. It whipped me around good.”
The plane came to a stop in the middle of the field, owned by the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, several feet from another scrub oak. Conway walked away with only a wrist injury, but the plane was badly mangled and the landing gear crumpled.
The president of Wiggins Airways, Jim Thomforde, said Wednesday that Conway was fully trained and certified to be flying the Twin Otter aircraft, and that he was the only Wiggins pilot who flew the Nantucket-Hyannis route for the airline.
“He fit in well and had a fair amount of multi-engine flight time,” Thomforde said. “We’ve sent our director of operations and our director of maintenance to be part of the investigation. From what I understand he was cleared for takeoff, got airborne, and some witnesses said around 200 feet the plane started to roll to the left and continued rolling and he struck the ground nose first.”
Thomforde added that Conway had no contact with the Barnstable airport tower as the plane started to crash.
