Suggested edit: Anyone who has ever flown an airplane can attest to the thrill of the experience. Howard Campbell of Staunton was certainly no exception; the 21-year-old must have been elated to earn his private pilot’s license in the final week of April 1949. Sadly, his joy would prove to be brief.
At about 9:30 a.m. on May 5, Campbell and his uncle, 24-year-old Aubrey Lee Campbell, also of Staunton, climbed into a rented Aeronica trainer at the Grimm Flying Service in Verona. They took off and headed in a southerly direction. Thirty minutes later, the aircraft was spotted at Lofton flying at an altitude of only about 200 feet. The plane banked sharply, stalled, and plummeted from the sky. According to an eyewitness, it nosed over, fell between two sets of high tension wires (missing both) and burst into flames upon impact with the ground.
The Augusta County Fire Department was summoned to the scene at 10:17 a.m., but the heat from the burning plane was so intense that firefighters couldn’t get close enough to be of any assistance. When the fire finally burned itself out, all that remained was the aircraft’s charred framework. Both Howard and Aubrey Campbell were burned beyond recognition. They were identified by the charred remains of a pilot’s license found in the wreckage. It is believed that newly minted pilot Howard Campbell had been at the controls of the Aeronica trainer.
Double funeral services were held May 7 for the young men at Mount Carmel Presbyterian Church near Steeles Tavern.
Contributor: ERunyon (47806384)
======================================================
Surviving are wife Doris Kehrer Campbell, step-father and mother, Mr. & Mrs. R.N. Snyder of Staunton; sisters Mrs. Winston Harris of Lofton and Mrs. Fleming Campbell, Jr., of Greenville, and half-brother Boyd Snyder. (source: obituary)
At about 9:30 a.m. on May 5, Campbell and his uncle, 24-year-old Aubrey Lee Campbell, also of Staunton, climbed into a rented Aeronica trainer at the Grimm Flying Service in Verona. They took off and headed in a southerly direction. Thirty minutes later, the aircraft was spotted at Lofton flying at an altitude of only about 200 feet. The plane banked sharply, stalled, and plummeted from the sky. According to an eyewitness, it nosed over, fell between two sets of high tension wires (missing both) and burst into flames upon impact with the ground.
The Augusta County Fire Department was summoned to the scene at 10:17 a.m., but the heat from the burning plane was so intense that firefighters couldn’t get close enough to be of any assistance. When the fire finally burned itself out, all that remained was the aircraft’s charred framework. Both Howard and Aubrey Campbell were burned beyond recognition. They were identified by the charred remains of a pilot’s license found in the wreckage. It is believed that newly minted pilot Howard Campbell had been at the controls of the Aeronica trainer.
Double funeral services were held May 7 for the young men at Mount Carmel Presbyterian Church near Steeles Tavern.
Contributor: ERunyon (47806384)
======================================================
Surviving are wife Doris Kehrer Campbell, step-father and mother, Mr. & Mrs. R.N. Snyder of Staunton; sisters Mrs. Winston Harris of Lofton and Mrs. Fleming Campbell, Jr., of Greenville, and half-brother Boyd Snyder. (source: obituary)
Suggested edit: Anyone who has ever flown an airplane can attest to the thrill of the experience. Howard Campbell of Staunton was certainly no exception; the 21-year-old must have been elated to earn his private pilot’s license in the final week of April 1949. Sadly, his joy would prove to be brief.
At about 9:30 a.m. on May 5, Campbell and his uncle, 24-year-old Aubrey Lee Campbell, also of Staunton, climbed into a rented Aeronica trainer at the Grimm Flying Service in Verona. They took off and headed in a southerly direction. Thirty minutes later, the aircraft was spotted at Lofton flying at an altitude of only about 200 feet. The plane banked sharply, stalled, and plummeted from the sky. According to an eyewitness, it nosed over, fell between two sets of high tension wires (missing both) and burst into flames upon impact with the ground.
The Augusta County Fire Department was summoned to the scene at 10:17 a.m., but the heat from the burning plane was so intense that firefighters couldn’t get close enough to be of any assistance. When the fire finally burned itself out, all that remained was the aircraft’s charred framework. Both Howard and Aubrey Campbell were burned beyond recognition. They were identified by the charred remains of a pilot’s license found in the wreckage. It is believed that newly minted pilot Howard Campbell had been at the controls of the Aeronica trainer.
Double funeral services were held May 7 for the young men at Mount Carmel Presbyterian Church near Steeles Tavern.
Contributor: ERunyon (47806384)
======================================================
Surviving are wife Doris Kehrer Campbell, step-father and mother, Mr. & Mrs. R.N. Snyder of Staunton; sisters Mrs. Winston Harris of Lofton and Mrs. Fleming Campbell, Jr., of Greenville, and half-brother Boyd Snyder. (source: obituary)
At about 9:30 a.m. on May 5, Campbell and his uncle, 24-year-old Aubrey Lee Campbell, also of Staunton, climbed into a rented Aeronica trainer at the Grimm Flying Service in Verona. They took off and headed in a southerly direction. Thirty minutes later, the aircraft was spotted at Lofton flying at an altitude of only about 200 feet. The plane banked sharply, stalled, and plummeted from the sky. According to an eyewitness, it nosed over, fell between two sets of high tension wires (missing both) and burst into flames upon impact with the ground.
The Augusta County Fire Department was summoned to the scene at 10:17 a.m., but the heat from the burning plane was so intense that firefighters couldn’t get close enough to be of any assistance. When the fire finally burned itself out, all that remained was the aircraft’s charred framework. Both Howard and Aubrey Campbell were burned beyond recognition. They were identified by the charred remains of a pilot’s license found in the wreckage. It is believed that newly minted pilot Howard Campbell had been at the controls of the Aeronica trainer.
Double funeral services were held May 7 for the young men at Mount Carmel Presbyterian Church near Steeles Tavern.
Contributor: ERunyon (47806384)
======================================================
Surviving are wife Doris Kehrer Campbell, step-father and mother, Mr. & Mrs. R.N. Snyder of Staunton; sisters Mrs. Winston Harris of Lofton and Mrs. Fleming Campbell, Jr., of Greenville, and half-brother Boyd Snyder. (source: obituary)
Family Members
Siblings
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
