CLEVELAND -- More information has been made available in connection with the crash of an ultralight aircraft east of Cleveland on Friday, Sept. 9.
White County Dispatch was called and an ambulance was dispatched to the scene Friday night to check out a passenger on the plane who was injured but refused to be transported to the hospital.
It wasn’t until almost noon Saturday that an actual aircraft crash was reported after a nearby resident called in the report.
White County Sheriff’s Office has released an incident report that identifies the pilot as Henry Vanginkle, 70. The report identified the passenger as Shannon Ash.
Shan Ash is mayor of Cleveland.
Just before noon Saturday, Deputy Williamson responded to the area of Ga. 115 East and made contact with the homeowner who reported the crash, the report states.
The homeowner said he knew the owner of the property where the aircraft crash was located belonged to Shannon Ash and stated he would call him, the report states.
When Williamson talked with Ash via phone after the homeowner reached him, Ash stated he was the passenger in the plane and that Henry Vanginkle was the pilot, according to the report. Williamson asked Ash if he was hurt. Ash said his back was hurt and that he went to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for treatment.
Ash declined a sheriff's report on the crash on his property, the report states.
Williamson contacted Vanginkle by phone, and Vanginkle said they were flying over the property owned by Ash and the plane started to go down, the report states. Vanginkle told the officer they hit the ground hard, but that he didn't remember anything after that.
"Deputy Davis located what appeared to be two fresh cans of Coors Light alcohol next to the crash scene," the report states.
The White County Sheriff's Office secured the scene and turned the investigation over to a Federal Aviation Administration investigator.
Additionally, White County Public Safety Director David Murphy has released a statement in connection with the ultralight aircraft crash.
Last weekend Murphy said that for an unexplained reason the aircraft crash was not properly reported until Saturday morning.
On Thursday Murphy stated via email, "After internal review of the incident on Sept. 9, we find no evidence of any intention to cover up the incident or false report of the incident to authorities."
Murphy further stated, "We did find a protocol issue with this type of aircraft and proper incident coding within the dispatch center. We are in the process of updating the system to include these type aircraft in the proper response configuration."
