Sunday is the 30th anniversary of a tragic plane crash in Evansville. WNIN’s John Gibson remembers:
On February 6th, 1992, a Kentucky Air National Guard C-130 plane stalled and crashed into the rear of the JoJo’s restaurant at Highway 41 and Lynch Road.
The crash created a fireball that sent flames into the Drury Inn hotel next door.
On an upcoming episode of Two Main Street, David James interviews local journalist Jay Zimmer and Yours Truly about covering the crash.
Jay was providing live reports for WFIE TV:
"I was standing right in front of the fire, you could see the fire behind me. And I would often step out of the way and let people see that without me being in the middle of it."
I was working for WIKY Radio, scrambling between the scene and a station truck parked a short distance away that contained an early cell phone. That’s where I filed my reports:
"You know, it's sounds simple but it's very important to paint an accurate, vivid picture of what you're seeing and what people at the scene are telling you, and to convey it to the thousands of people who are listening. And they're depending on you to describe what you see. You're there, they are not."
The crash initially killed 16 people, including nine employees of Plumbing and Industrial Supply who were attending a seminar in the hotel, two employees in the rear of the restaurant, and five guard members on the plane.
An Evansville Police officer who was taking medication for injuries suffered when he responded to the blaze later died of an overdose.