nounced an appropriations bill
has been passed that includes
$130 million in federal funding to
keep air traffic control towers
scheduled for closing due to se-
questration, including the tower
at the Salisbury-Ocean City-
Wicomico Regional Airport, op-
en through fiscal year 2014.
said this week the appropria-
tions bill just passed includes
$130 million in federal funding to
keep 149 federal contract air
traffic control towers across the
nation, including the Salisbury
airport tower, open through fis-
cal year 2014. Among the 149
towers scheduled for closure
were five in Maryland including
Salisbury's air traffic control tow-
er.
contract towers is good news for
our economic security, national
security and jobs," she said.
"The stress and strain of poten-
tial closures of regional contract
towers underscores that se-
quester and uncertainty is hav-
ing real impacts in real commu-
nities with real consequences.
By ensuring the continued oper-
ation of our regional airports, we
will make our nation safer and
Maryland's economy stronger."
announced plans to close 149
federal contract air traffic control
towers across the nation due to
sequester.
was presented with a $25,000
check from the Arthur W. Perdue
Foundation for its "Badges for
Baseball" initiative for at-risk
youth in Salisbury.
created by the Cal Ripken Sr.
Foundation in partnership with
the U.S. Department of Justice
that pairs police officers with
kids to play and learn.
forcement and children living in
underserved communities ac-
ross the country. In 2012, the
foundation impacted over
154,000 youth in 47 states a-
round the country including the
local program in the Salisbury
area.
keeps children active, but teach-
es life lessons about teamwork
and integrity through relation-
ships with mentors, and expos-
es them to law enforcement in a
positive setting," said Jim Per-
due, chairman of Perdue Farms.
for the Beach Patrol shed on 130th
Street from the guard on the stand
and got the rescue board out. I also
grabbed the flags to mark the area so
we could close it off. The sergeant
paddled out, but there was nothing to
see and no rescues to be made."
where he worked as a lifeguard for
five years was not lost on Dawson.
and air shows, I always expected to
see a crash at some point," he said. "I
never thought I'd see it right out in
front of my home beach."
red, white and blue speed boat with
the familiar rooster tail plume of wa-
ter trailing out the back, which was
out in the ocean full of passengers
on a Sunday afternoon cruise. Cap-
tain Graham Bostic said he saw the
plane overhead and to his right be-
fore it went into the fateful spin and
crashed into the ocean. Bostic said
he recognized Geoghegan's familiar
Nanchang plane because he had
seen it in the past.
then it seemed like it was directly over
our heads. I saw the plane spinning at
about 1,000 feet and I thought it was
one of those stunt planes from the air
show, but then I realized I had seen
that particular plane often out over the
ocean."
quickly in a spin before crashing into
the sea. "It was spinning and seem-
ed unstable, then it went into what
seemed like one of those stall ma-
neuvers you see those pilots do
sometimes," he said. "I was waiting
for it to pull out of it, but it never did.
About 500 yards from the boat, it
crashed on its belly like a belly flop
and sank instantly."
knew what he had to do next. "We
dashed over to the scene and the
first thing I did was mark the position
and call the Coast Guard and 911,"
he said. "I was in the Coast Guard
for 20 years and that's what I do."
pared to do whatever they could
once on the scene, but it soon be-
came apparent it was not a rescue
mission but an attempt to assist with
the recovery.
ing came up," he said. "My first
mate, Samuel Coates, was ready to
jump in the water and do whatever
he had to do to help the victims, but
nothing ever came up. There was
virtually no debris."
in what became a silent vigil.
he said. "We all just sat there kind of
in stunned silence. There was a lot
of support from the passengers be-
gathered under makeshift tents and
canopies on the beach to keep vigil.
At daybreak on Monday, a Coast
Guard vessel and three smaller
boats were moored over the crash
site as the effort began to recover
the two victims.
forts, which would have taken just a
couple hours earlier in the day,
dragged into mid-morning and the
afternoon. MSP and NRP divers
worked throughout the morning and
early afternoon to recover the vic-
tims from the wreckage in about 30
feet of water and around a quarter
mile offshore. The divers were able
to recover Geoghegan and Adickes
around 1:15 p.m. on Monday.
there was some measure of closure
on Monday, but the grim chore of
raising the wreckage was left for an-
other day, particularly with stormy
conditions and rough seas prevail-
ing. On Wednesday morning, MSP
divers were headed back out to the
crash site with Captain Greg Hall
and Tow Boat U.S. of Ocean City to
craft a plan to raise the plane and
transport it by barge to the commer-
cial harbor in West Ocean City. Hall
said on Wednesday the divers
would not necessarily be seeing the
wreckage on the bottom as much as
feeling it because of the continued
rough and murky conditions.
chore of raising the plane would be
undertaken, likely sometime Thurs-
day or Friday. From there, the plane
will be transported by truck to an
undisclosed location where National
Transportation Safety Board (NT-
SB) officials will begin their investi-
gation into what went wrong.
have to do. Everybody wanted to
help or do something, but every-
body just sat there. There was real-
ly nothing for us to do other than
mark the spot where it went down."
luted to Bostic and his crew for their
efforts.
police officers. Believe me, when
we circled to make the turn at 130th
Street for our trip back, every pas-
senger, including the captain, were
ready to pull any survivors aboard.
In fact, every passenger aboard that
ship made it very clear we did not
want to leave the scene in case
someone managed to surface. Hats
off to the captain and our deepest
regrets to families of these fallen
police officers," Esposito said.
the site from the beach. The Coast
Guard responded, as did personnel
from the OCPD, the Maryland State
Police and Maryland Natural Re-
sources Police. The MSP regional
state police helicopter Trooper 4 al-
so responded and conducted an
aerial search. With no debris on the
surface and no apparent survivors,
the collective mission quickly be-
came recovery.
ed the debris field by Sunday even-
ing, but the search was suspended
around 9. Darkness, a dangerous
current and high waves created
hazardous conditions that led to the
decision to suspend the search on
Sunday night.
quarter mile off the coast at 130th
Street, as family members and