Date: Fri 26-Sep-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

plance-crash-Andy-Foote

Full Text:

Plane Crash Leaves Local Man Feeling More Lucky Than Heroic

(with photo)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Lifelong Newtown resident Andy Foote doesn't think of himself as a hero. He's

just happy to be alive and well following last week's plane crash in Danbury.

Mr Foote, 45, of Hanover Road, took off from Danbury Municipal Airport with

three others for a three-hour business flight to West Virginia early last

Thursday morning. Moments later, the single-engine Piper Aero crashed into a

wooded hillside about a half mile from the runway. With the plane on fire, Mr

Foote acted instinctively to pull everyone out safely then go for help. Those

at the scene called Mr Foote a hero.

This week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was still investigating

the cause of the crash. Mr Foote's co-workers, none of them with

life-threatening injuries, were recovering this week from broken bones,

dislocated hips and head injuries. One man suffered a severe head injury,

which has left him blind and deaf on his left side.

Earlier this week, the 1969 Newtown High School graduate talked about the

experience.

A facilities manager at Kimchuck, Inc, a circuit board manufacturing company

in Danbury, Mr Foote had made the same trip to West Virginia the day before,

joining upper management for an equipment auction. Several large pieces of

machinery were purchased and Mr Foote and two others were sent down the

following day to dismantle them.

He met co-workers Robert Echavarria, 39, of Danbury and David Poissonier, 41,

of New Milford, along with the pilot, Charles Wright, 45, of Oxford, at the

airport at around 5 am. It was still dark out as they boarded the plane and

taxied down Runway 26. Mr Foote remembers the plane took off fine and gained

altitude in the foggy, pre-dawn air.

Suddenly, less than a minute into the flight, he noticed the silhouettes of

trees directly outside his left-rear seat window. He heard a thump and a bang,

and knew the plane was in trouble. Seconds later, the plane ripped through the

trees and crashed to the ground, sending Andy and the three others head over

heels. The plane finally came to a rest atop a wooded hillside about a half

mile from the runway.

"I remember it being completely silent. It was dead still, but I knew I was

alive," he recalled. "It's amazing how many things can go through your mind at

a time like that."

Andy, the only one not to lose consciousness during the ordeal, was wedged

underneath a seriously injured Mr Echavarria, who had landed on top of him.

Unable to move, he looked around and noticed an orange glow coming from the

front of the plane. As it got brighter, he knew it was not a light from the

instrument panel. It was a fire and Andy's fear suddenly grew intense, knowing

full-well the plane could explode. He knew more than most people do about

planes, having served as an airplane mechanic in the Air Force. He knew he had

to act quickly.

"I thought to myself, `we either get out now or we never get out,'" he said.

Somehow, pilot Charles Wright managed to stumble out of the plane and Andy was

then able to push his way to his feet. Only then did he realize that there was

no roof left on the plane. Without hesitation, he and the broken-armed pilot

dragged Mr Echavarria out.

Once out of the plane, Andy saw that the fuselage had been ripped in half and

both wings had been ripped off. Turning around, he noticed that Mr Poissoniere

had fallen out of the plane. Andy grabbed him by the ankles and dragged him

away from the wreckage.

With his adrenaline pumping and his heart racing "100 miles a minute," Andy

took off down the small mountain in search of help.

"Most of my cuts and scrapes were from running down the hill in the dark,

bumping into trees and branches," he said. "You don't feel any pain at a time

like that, though."

About a quarter mile later, he came to a house on or near Miry Brook Road. The

homeowner let Andy in to call 911 (and his wife Debbie to say he was OK), then

Andy and the man rushed back up the hill with blankets and bandages. As he

climbed back up the large hill Andy noticed an orange glow through the trees.

The plane had become fully engulfed in flames.

Moments later, police, fire and emergency medical personnel were on the scene.

Andy had done his job, and rescue workers urged him to seek medical treatment.

"I really thought we were going to die," he said, looking back. "After the

crash, everything seemed as if it were in slow motion."

Later, at the hospital, Andy was asked by his boss if he felt lucky or

unlucky.

"I thought about it for a minute, then said, `I feel lucky. I'm very lucky,'"

he said. "My honest feeling is that none of us should have gotten out of there

alive. God was with us."

Andy, who believes the plane simply veered off course, returned to the scene

of the crash Friday to look for his keys and his jacket. He managed to find

his keys amid the burnt wreckage, but the jacket had been removed.

As for being a hero, Andy said he believes he did what any good citizen would

have done. He does feel a bit strange knowing that he was the least injured of

the four.

"It's tough. I'm having a bit of an emotional problem with the whole thing. I

did what had to be done," he said. "Compared to them, I could run a marathon."

Andy, the father of three daughters, said he will certainly fly again, though

that first flight will probably be a bit uneasy.

"I'll probably have a few white knuckles during my first take-off," he joked.

Mr Foote, who plays the French horn, was a founding member of the NHS marching

band and remains an active member of the Band Parents Association.