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Among those volunteering to patch the roof of a home hit by a plane Saturday were Bill Brinkley (from left), Alvin Hitson and Mark Nodes. Photo by Robert Bridges/Lake City Reporter
An Inwood Court home suffered more damage than was first thought when it was struck by a single-engine plane on Saturday, killing the pilot.
A group from Parkview Baptist Church was at the home Sunday afternoon putting a tarp over damaged areas of the roof but could not address the largest laceration, a gaping hole over the garage.
Jack Russell, father of the woman who lives there, said the area was structurally unsound and dangerous to approach.
“They’ll have to work around that one,” he said.
In addition, he said, the whole house now stank of aviation fuel. The full extent of the damage is unclear.
The woman who lives there — Shane Renee Thomson and her son Ethan, 7 — escaped unharmed Saturday when the single-engine Piper struck the front of the home in a glancing blow at about 9:33 a.m.
The pilot was identified by the friend she came to visit at nearby Cannon Creek Airpark as Salena Short of Tyler, Texas, formerly known as Salena Buster, the surname of her late husband.
Russell had praise for Short.
“She was trying to do everything she could” to avoid a direct hit on the house, he said, based on what he knew of her flight plan.
The National Transportation Safety Board has removed the wreckage and will issue a report on the cause of the crash once its investigation is complete.
Russell was also grateful for the group there Sunday working to keep rain out of the damaged dwelling.
“They put feet to their prayers,” he said. “They’re putting their prayers into action.”
Joe Crocker is one of them.
“We would want to help even if she weren’t one of our members,” he said. “It’s the right thing.”
Some of those helping were neighbors not affiliated with the church.
Among those present Sunday were Bill Brinkley, Eve Brinkley, Crocker, Alvin Hitson, Ted Janson and Mark Nodes.
Russell said his daughter is still somewhat in shock after the ordeal and that his grandson is focused on the fact the pilot lost her life.
During evacuation Saturday he insisted they grab his toy Chewbacca from the laundry room, which luckily was on their way out, but his grandmother, Jack’s wife Rhonda, said it smelled of smoke.
The toy has now been replaced with a new one, Jack said.