3 SC college students, Myrtle Beach woman die in Charlotte crash
(Charlotte) Jan. 10, 2003 - Officials say three South Carolina college students and a woman from Myrtle Beach were among the 21 people killed in the crash of a US Airways Express flight in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The flight originated in Lynchburg, Va., and was bound for the Greenville-Spartanburg airport in Greer, only 80 miles away from Charlotte. John Goglia, a National Transportation Safety Board member, said none of the passengers started their trip in Charlotte, though some may have boarded there after transferring from other flights.
Ima Rae Pearson, 72, was returning from Las Vegas. She lived in North Myrtle Beach for about eight years. Originally, Pearson was thought to be a Las Vegas resident, because that's how her name was listed on the ill-fated flight's manifest.
Two Clemson University graduate students died US Airwasy Express Flight 5481 crashed into a hangar Wednesday morning. Clemson officials say Sreenivasa Reddy Badam, 24, and Ganeshram Sreenivasan, 23, both of India, were among the passengers killed.
Both were graduate students in computer science and had been enrolled at the university since fall 2001.
A spokesman from Bob Jones University in Greenville says a freshman interior design student from the school died. Jonathan Pait confirms Christiana Shepherd, 18, of Boston, was killed on flight 5481. She was returning to Greenville and was to begin her second semester January 9th.
A counselor says Shepherd was returning from Portugal, where she had visited her parents, who are missionaries.
Businessman Buddy Puckett of Greenville, SC, was awaiting the arrival of a friend and client, Gary Gezzer of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He sent a co-worker to the Greer airport to pick up Gezzer, only to learn he had been killed.
Puckett said he would fly to Florida to be with Gezzer's family. "He was not only a client, he was also a very, very good friend," Puckett said.
Chemical and manufacturing company W.R. Grace said three of its employees were killed. Paul Stidham, 46, Richard Lyons, 56, and Joseph Spiak, 46, were traveling to a company facility in Enoree, S.C., according to a statement from the Columbia, Md.-based firm.
Two brothers who worked at a hardware store on the Bahamas island of Abaco were en route to a convention. Robin and Nicholas Albury and Robin's daughter, Caitlin, 13, were killed in the crash, their family said.
List of names of those on US Airways Express Flight 5481, which crashed Wednesday at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, killing all 21 aboard:
- Caitlin Albury, 13, Marsh Harbour, Bahamas
- Nicholas Albury, 21, Marsh Harbour, Bahamas
- Robin Albury, 38, Marsh Harbour, Bahamas
- Sreenivasa Badam, 24, India
- Mark Congdon, Baltimore, Maryland
- Keith Coyner, Coral Springs, Florida
- Forrest Demartino, Dayton, Ohio
- Sylvain Dubois, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Richard E. Fonte, 29, Jacksonville, North Carolina
- Gary Gezzer, 42, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Jonathan Gibbs (first officer), Charlotte, North Carolina
- Steven J. Krassas, Richmond, Virginia
- Katie Leslie (captain), 25, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Richard Lyons, 56, of Boston, Massachusetts
- Ima Pearson, 72, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- Christiana Shepherd, Boston, Massachusetts
- Joseph M. Spiak, 46, Boston, Massachusetts
- Ganeshram Sreenivasan, 23, India
- Paul Stidham, 46, of Dayton, Maryland
- Michael Otto Sullivan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Ralph Sylvia, Richmond, Virginia
updated 8:03am by Chris Rees
