Plane crash victims' bodies found in rugged part of West Virginia
PERU, W.Va. — The search for three Kiski Valley business leaders turned into recovery on Friday with news that they had died in the crash of a single engine airplane in rugged terrain about 200 miles south of Pittsburgh.
Aboard the airplane were pilot Michael Fiori Garrone, 52, of Allegheny Township; and his friends, Parks Township couple Chas Armitage Jr., 52, and Laura Stettmier, 49.
Family friends said the three and Garrone's wife, Kathi, flew to Myrtle Beach for a golf holiday.
Kathi got off at Danville, Va. for family business.
The plane was enroute to Johnstown when it disappeared from radar screens about 8:45 p.m. Sunday.
Garrone's six-seat, high performance, single-engine airplane was found Thursday evening in the Brakes Run area of Branch Mountain, about 2 1/2 miles from the community of Peru, on a steep, forested spur of a mountain in Hardy County, about five miles from the Virginia line.
The deaths were confirmed Friday morning by Paul Lewis, director of the Hardy County Office of Emergency Management, who also said there was no sign of fire at the crash site. West Virginia State Police Sgt. Cris Siler said they apparently died on impact.
By 5 p.m. yesterday, the bodies were being taken from the mountain enroute to the West Virginia State Coroner's Office with assistance of a Moorefield, W.Va., funeral home.
They were to be taken to Charleston to determine the case of death, said coroner's spokeswoman Marsha Dadisman.
"We haven't received them yet, so we haven't officially identified them," she said.
Officials said it will take recovery crews "a couple days" to remove the plane wreckage off Branch Mountain. Two federal agencies will handle those duties and the crash investigation, but Siler said indications are that poor weather on Sunday — rain, sleet and fog — contributed to the crash.
The search
Getting crews to the site hasn't proved too difficult, especially because many people in the region have four-wheel drive SUVs, said Siler, the officer in charge of the scene.
The area's terrain is "straight up and down (with) rocks," he said.
There are two ways to scale Branch Mountain by car — both are treacherous, windy, gravel-and-dirt roads.
A creek intersects the road in three locations on one side of the slope, and there are no bridges. Vehicles simply drive across the creek.
In addition, numerous ATVs — one from state police, one from a local fire department and several personal ones — were used to access the area.
The wreckage was discovered in the area crews had searched this week.
Search-and-rescue personnel scoured about a 50-square-mile area.
A member of the Civil Air Patrol who was riding in a West Virginia State Police helicopter spotted a piece of debris "about the size of a laptop sitting in a tree" about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Siler said.
A trooper was dropped to the ground to check for survivors and to secure the scene. Crews stayed on site all night.
The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, a state police crime scene team, the Moorefield Fire Department and the state coroner's office assisted in yesterday's recovery.
They worked to process the crash site, meaning they tried to identify remains and take measurements of the perimeter of the scene, Siler said.
The plane clipped treetops before crashing, Siler said.
"We're relieved that we found it," Siler said.
"Of course, it's not the outcome everyone wanted."
Over the course of the week's investigation, Siler said police received information that three residents thought they heard a plane crash. They all pointed to the same general area, so crews combed the mountains, starting from the top and moving back to the other side of the ridge.
A two-lane road dotted with a few small houses on each side is Peru's main road. It's near the Monongahela National Forest.
The closest town is Moorefield, about 20 miles north — also site of Peru's nearest access to cell phone reception.
A-K Valley residents joined in
Lee Schumaker, emergency management director for Allegheny Township, where Garrone lived, said at least 100 volunteers, including family, drove from the Alle-Kiski Valley to West Virginia to help with the search.
"When you got there, it was like having a homecoming," he said. "Some of us do this for a living, and here (also) were all the volunteers. It was phenomenal. And the West Virginians treated us so well."
Local officials assigned him to take part in the search.
The community of Peru provided food and shelter at its community center.
"They treated us like family," Siler said.
State police from West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, the Red Cross and the Civil Air Patrol also were heavily involved in the search from the ground and from planes and helicopters.
Schumaker said searching on foot was tough.
Terrain was densely forested. Searchers walked up about 1,000 feet of elevation, walked in forest about 500 yards and then down about 2,500 feet into a ravine, only to walk back up to the top to start again, he said.
Deaths devastate family, friends
Charles Armitage learned about the death of his son, Chas Armitage Jr., on Thursday night.
"What was he like⢠He was a hell of a nice guy. That's what he was," Armitage Sr. said about his 52-year-old son.
Friends are shocked by the deaths.
"They were all friends. Close friends," said Ronald Baustert of Apollo.
"They were exceptional people. Mike owned a construction company. Laura was co-owner of the Addison House restaurant and Chas was president of Uncle Charley's.
"I don't think you could find a nicer person than Laura," he said, and "Chas was teaching me how to golf."
Former Leechburg District Judge Michael Gerheim, a one-time police officer, remembers Garrone as a former Gilpin police officer who worked with him.
"He was an excellent police officer and his wife, Kathy, baby-sat my kids," he said. "It's been a tough week."
Gerheim said he and his wife, Pat, were in the Addison when they saw the two couples discussing their upcoming trip to Myrtle Beach.
"They were all excited and talking about what clothes to pack. They were all avid golfers," he said.
There are several golfing references in the restaurant lounge, including cross wooded-shaft golf clubs in a glass frame.
Gerheim said he met Laurie and Chas about the time that the Addison opened.
Garrone also proudly showed Gerheim his private pilot's license.
"He had just bought a new plane and he took lessons. I know he had a plane before that," he said.
"It's tough to lose one close friend. When you lose three at a time, it's indescribable. They were a class act. All of them."
Friend Frank Catanzano, whose Murrysville public relations company works for Uncle Charley's Sausage, said Armitage was a friend to everyone.
"He was salt of the earth," said Catanzano, who said Armitage was his golf buddy.
Armitage became company president in 2005 after serving as vice president of operations.
Catanzano said Chas Armitage was an officer of the American Association of Meat Processors and was recently recognized for his service as its national director from 2007-10.
Investigation under way
Garrone's current license was issued Aug. 30, said Jim Peters, an FAA spokesman in New York.
Peters said FAA staff would support staff from the NTSB, which has the lead in such fatal crashes. The inspectors will examine the crash site and aircraft. A site map, with grids, will show where things are found. Later, staff will get radar reports from the ill-fated flight.
In Washington, D.C., a NTSB spokesman said yesterday that an inspector was on the way to the crash, but it was unclear if he could make it to the top of the mountain or if he will use FAA reports. The spokesman couldn't reach the inspector by cell phone.
Families of the victims left West Virginia on Thursday night, Siler said.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced for Garrone, Stettmier or Armitage.
Rossilynne Skena can be reached at rskena@tribweb.com . Chuck Biedka can be reached at cbiedka@tribweb.com .
