Recent Visit to Crash Site
Posted by Rick Vickers on 8/10/2003, 8:31 pm
At the time of the 401 crash about 8 miles north of hwy 41, I was in a hunting camp about 7 miles due south of hwy 41. I didn't hear of the crash until Sun. AM. Our camp was just north of Robert "BUD" Marqui's camp (the frogger who saw the crash). Bud spent time hunting and visiting with our camp since we were neighbors and said he would never forget that nite. The first time I visited the site a couple of months later, I was with Franny Taylor, after whom the wildlife mgmt. area the site is in is named. Everything was mostly cleaned up except for small debris. You could tell from the terrain damage how the plane had hit the ground. First, a big hole where the wingtip had hit, then a large space of little damage, then the area of greatest damage. It was a sad feeling being there and knowing what had happened. While hunting the area over the years, I have passed by several times. While out in my airboat on 8-2-03, I was southbound along the eastside of L-67C levee and I came to the site once again. The Everglades has repaired the damaged terrain, but the sad feeling still comes to me.
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