Remembering those from USAir Flight 1016

This memorial for the 37 people who perished in USAir Flight 1016 sits at the corner of Butler Street and Millwood Avenue. Among those who died are Velma Renee Bates, Christopher Scott Bowles, Winston Cain, Phyllis M. Calvo, Bertha Johnson Cantey, Elaine Dixon, Wendell Dixon, Jimmy Terrain Edwards, Mark Anthony Erwin, Edna Lucille Fisher, Rita A. Gray, Charles Lee Jeter, Charnesha Latric Jeter, Patrice Chantel Jeter, Patrice M. Jeter, Robert Isaiah Johnson, W. Gaines Jontz, Gook C. Lee, Theresa Marie Litchfield, Danasia Danyel Charisse London, James Ernest Lucas Jr., Rita Hamilton Mattox, Stephen Alan Mattox, L. Lee Norris, Paul Perez, Joday Phillips, Lori F. Pinette, Jermome Jerry Price, Patricia Stephenson Price, Terry Lynn Price, Ann Sharkey, Freddie Sue Sturkie, and Mildred “Lou” Welch.

The July 4 week is often a time to celebrate for citizens of the United States. However, that week holds tearful memories for the family and friends of 37 passengers who perished when USAir Flight 1016 crashed at the Charlotte Douglas Airport July 2, 1994.

The 25th anniversary of the tragic event is especially important to Columbia City Councilman Howard Duvall. Among the 37 fatalities was Gaines Jontz, an architect of the Downtown Developers Association which was a part of the Municipal Association. Duvall was the executive of the association.

Jontz left the Columbia Airport in the afternoon on July 2, along with 56 other passengers and flight crew. He was headed to Washington D.C. for the July 4 celebration. As the plane was landing at the Charlotte Douglass Airport, it was hit by a microburst wind shear from a thunderstorm and crashed.

Duvall recalls first going to Columbia Airport and then being told to go to Charlotte. Once Duvall arrived, he was told most of the survivors had already been identified, Jontz was not one of them. He had to return to Columbia, only to make one final trip to Charlotte to properly identify Jontz’s body.

Following the tragedy, the families of those who died came together and got the city to agree to plant 33 trees and get a plaque to honor their memories. It was decided the proper place for the memorial was on Millwood Avenue. Unfortunately, over time most of the trees planted did not survive.

An investigation following the crash cited the flight crew’s decision to continue the approach to the area, the crew’s failure to recognize wind shear quickly and failure to establish proper pitch and engine power that would have brought the plane out of the wind shear, along with the lack of timely weather information from air traffic control to the flight crew as contributing factors to the crash.

The USAir Flight 1016 crash as well as a plane crash in Dallas changed how planes react to wind shear, according to Duvall.

There was no gathering or ceremony to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the tragic USAir Flight 1016 crash, just a small pot of flowers and a post on Facebook to honor the memory of those lost. However, for those like Duvall, this anniversary shows how quickly the time has passed.

“The 25th anniversary is important to me because I was amazed it had been 25 years,” Duvall said. “It passed so quickly. It was important to me the core group who loved Gaines and the others who lost loved ones are still grieving that loss. If you think of the talent that died in that plane crash you wonder what their lives would have been like.”