The Manhattan Mercury from Manhattan, Kansas • 3

Mercury REGIONAL Friday, July 8, 1994 A3 Wind gust blamed for fatal crash Associated Press several hours before takeoff, and that he took the proper steps required before takeoff, including contacting the FAA for a weather briefing. He did not contact flight controllers before takeoff, she said. Heavy rain and winds of about 60 mph were reported around the airport when the plane took off, and a severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for the area. As the plane started to climb, violent winds hit the airport, coming from behind the plane and depriving it of airspeed and lift. The plane climbed to a low level, then pitched up and fell on one wing, Campbell said.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent an investigator to the scene to determine the cause of the crash. Hays was instrument-rated with more than 1,000 hours of flying time, Campbell said. Jim Hays said his brother had been flying for more than 20 years. The crash occurred as a series of violent thunderstorms rumbled through south-central and southeast Kansas. Attleson, 31, of Wichita, died later at HCA Wesley Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said.

Tony Hays, 7, was in serious condition with a fractured leg and ankle, hospital spokesman Gordon Funk said. There are two older Hays children, Andrew, 19, and Emily, 17. Hays also is survived by his wife, Charlotte. Hays, a family doctor, was one of seven partners at the Wichita Family Health Care Center, Funk said. Attleson was a pharmacist there.

In a telephone interview from the pediatric intensive care unit at HCA Wesley, the doctor's brqther, Jim Hays ofWichita, said his brother had a strong sense of humor. "And he was very religious. He lived every day as though something like this might happen, yet he still had fun doing it." The plane, a Beech Bonanza A-36, was owned by a Wichita partnership and based at Jabara. Campbell said Hays had filed a flight plan to Colorado Springs, Airport in northeast Wichita. Sleeping bags and camping equipment littered the crash site.

"I couldn't believe he was taking off, with the way the wind was blowing," said Gary Keazer, who watched the accident from a backhoe at a construction site near the scene. "But the wind changed on him pretty quick. It came out of nowhere. One minute it was pretty nice; the next minute it was just bio wing. I don't think it got over 50 feet high, really 50 or 75 feet." Hays, 45, and three of his sons were going to Colorado for a camping trip, according to a family spokesman.

Attleson planned to visit acquaintances elsewhere in Colorado. "He's the most meticulous pilot I've ever been around," said Jed Holmes, one of the partners at Hays' clinic. "But when a gust of wind hits like that, there's just no way you can fly anything through it" Mike Corn, fire education chief for the Wichita Fire Department, said the plane flipped over. Its wings, tail and engine broke off, but no fire broke out, he said. Hays and his son Paul, 11, died at the scene.

Michael, 13, and WICHITA A highly experienced doctor-pilot made all the right decisions before taking off with his three sons and a family friend on a trip to Colorado. But federal investigators said a wind gust hit the single-engine plane from behind, depriving it of lift, and it crashed on takeoff. Investigators have not officially determined what caused the Thursday morning crash that killed Dr. Thomas Hays, his sons Paul and Michael and family friend Keith Attleson. But they said it may have been a matter of timing.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman in Kansas City, Sandra Campbell, said Hays might have been trying to beat a thunderstorm. "He may have not been able to do anything differently," Campbell said. "It was a judgment call, deciding where that margin might be. Five minutes earlier, 30 minutes later it would have made a difference." Another of the doctor's sons was seriously injured in the crash, which occurred around 8:30 a.m. on a hilly field at Jabara 1 AP Laserphoto coieoinrs farm marekt We survived the Flood of '93 and Fishin' fever Finney County roads deadly Associated Press We're Back! Good Homegrown fresh and juicy Weston Berry, 4, of Phoenix, waits for a nibble while fishing with relatives at Lake Charles in Dodge City this week.

Fire damage tops $1 million SWEET CORN Associated Press by Gary Skidmore, 42, of Montezuma, Kan. Wetstone died later in a Garden City hospital. The two truck drivers were not hurt. The rash of accidents began on June 19 when three teen-agers from Kearney County were killed in a collision on U.S. 50 about 2 miles east of the Kearney-Finney county line.

A Garden City man was killed in a two vehicle crash on June 20. Four Garden City men were killed Wednesday night when a pickup truck collided with a car at a county road intersection about 12 miles northwest of Gar-den City. GARDEN CITY Finney County recorded its ninth traffic death in three weeks in a collision Thursday just north of Garden City. The Kansas Highway Patrol said Becky Wetstone, 37, of Garden City, was east bound on U.S. 50 just north of Garden City, waiting for traffic to clear to turn north on a county road.

The patrol said she was struck from behind by a semi-trailer truck driven by Steven Blackburn, 42, of Holcomb. The collision pushed Wetstone into the west bound lane of 50, the patrol said, where she was struck by anothersemi-trailertruck driven Great Bend Fire Chief Marion Root said it may take several days before investigators determine what caused the fire. "It reminded me of Waco," said Larry Straub. "It was basically leveled in 45 minutes. It started on the east side and high winds spread it across the rest of the buildingbefore firefighters hada chance to contain it." He said the structural loss was estimated at $350,000 to $400,000.

The building contained more than $1 million in parts GREAT BEND A fire in a farm implement and truck company caused more than $1 million in damage, as high winds whipped the blaze from one end of the 200,000 square-foot building to the other. Nobody was hurt in the early Thursday morning fire, but the founder of Straub International, 62-year-old Walter Straub, was hospitalized after apparently going into shock, said his son and partner, Larry Straub. AND Homegrown NEW POTATOES OPEN 9-6 Sun. 1-5 South on Manhattan Ave. to Hunters Island, then turn east on Collins Lane 3U TCD 25 OfP MEN'S DRESS CASUAL SHOES Save now on comfortable styles for work or weekends from Bass, Timberland, our exclusive Roundtree York and other fine names.

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