The wreckage of a two engine Cessna airplane that crash landed in the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1983 was removed from the crash site on Tuesday.
The plane crashed between Waynesville and Sylva, near the border of Haywood and Jackson counties, a short hike off of the Blue Ridge Parkway along a steep hillside. The hard-to-reach site has been a hiker destination for nearly four decades.
The flight, carrying the pilot and one passenger, crash landed on the night of November 24th while flying through stormy weather. The flight was considered missing for five days, until the wreckage was discovered by chance by another pilot. Both passengers aboard the plane perished in the crash.
Now, 40 years later, what remained of the largely intact wreckage has been airlifted off the mountainside near Waterrock Knob.
According to the Park Service, over the years since they were granted ownership of the land where the crash site is located, they have mounted numerous rescues of hikers who were lost or injured seeking out the site. Eliminating the destination has been a top priority for the Foundation, which funded the removal effort. It’s been a concern echoed by the National Park Service.
Due to the remote nature of the wreckage, removal of the plane debris required a helicopter to airlift remaining sections of the plane from park lands.
