Accident at Kutztown

I copied this from a local Newspaper article.
I flew at Kutztown and was made incredibly welcome.
I can't thank them enough for their kindness and hospitality
to both myself and my wife. I am very sorry to hear
this news.

Plane crash kills Berks pilot near Kutztown Airport
Before the accident, Cessna towed a glider, which landed
safely.

By Dan Sheehan and Michael Duck
Of The Morning Call

The 49-year-old pilot of a single-engine plane towing
a glider died Wednesday in a crash on quarry property
adjacent to Kutztown Airport. The glider pilot, who
had disconnected from the plane moments before the
crash, landed safely.

Berks County Coroner Nicholas Bybel identified the
dead pilot as Anthony J. Talarigo of Bernville. Bybel
said an autopsy will be conducted today.

''I didn't know he was going to fly,'' his wife, Sabelle
Talarigo, said Wednesday night. He had said he was
just going to the airport Wednesday morning to polish
a plane he had been flying, she said.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration pilots
directory, Talarigo was certified as a commercial pilot
and flight instructor.

''It was his life,'' Sabelle Talarigo said. He had
earned his pilot's license in March 1998.

''That was a lifetime ambition of his,'' friend John
Weidman said. ''It was one of those things that everyone
talks about doing. … Nobody really pursues it as much
as he did.''

The cause of the crash, which happened about 10:15
a.m. in clear weather, was under investigation by the
FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Jill Andrews, an air safety investigator with the NTSB,
said the unidentified glider pilot reported disconnecting
from the Cessna 182C and seeing it crash moments later.

FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said area airport controllers
had no radio contact with the pilot before the crash
in Maxatawny Township.

Employees of Berks Products, a quarry just outside
Kutztown, saw the explosion when the plane hit the
ground. They used the plant's water tanker truck to
douse the fire, said company Chairman Jeff Nielsen.

''According to the police, our guys responded beautifully,''
Nielsen said, adding that the plane apparently clipped
a conveyor machine used to carry stone out of the quarry.

''We've never dealt with anything like this,'' Nielsen
said.

Bryan Ross, chief of the Berks-Lehigh Regional Police
Department, said a tree line east of the quarry may
have had some role in the crash.

A woman and young boy walking a dog found the orange
glider tow rope in a tree and turned it over to investigators.

Andrews, of the NTSB's Northeast Regional Office in
New York, planned to return to the site today with
representatives of Cessna and the manufacturer of the
plane engine. The charred wreckage was contained in
a small area, she said.

''We don't know what altitude released at,'' Andrews
said. ''We'll be following up with that pilot.''

Andrews said a preliminary report on the crash should
be available in a week, though the investigation could
take six to nine months.

The plane was owned by the 60-year-old airport, which
offers flight instruction and glider and biplane rides.
Employees would not discuss the crash.

Sabelle Talarigo said Anthony often went to Kutztown
Airport in the morning to help out, towing glider pilots
who purchased rides.

He planned to celebrate his 50th birthday at the airport
in September with a family reunion with their five
sons, Sabelle Talarigo said. He planned to give everyone
rides in the plane.

''He was just one of these guys who put in a lot of
time to work with kids and so on,'' said Walt Gladney,
a fellow member of the Tri-County Wingsnappers, a club
for model airplane enthusiasts.

''He was really helpful to a lot of people,'' agreed
Weidman, also a club member. Professionally, Talarigo
enjoyed assisting people with computer repairs through
his business, Tony's Electronics, Weidman said.

Talarigo helped coordinate the ''Christmas in the Air''
program at Reading Regional Airport. In the program,
pilots give plane rides to disabled children, Weidman
said.

Talarigo even dressed up as Orville Wright at an event
marking the centennial of the Wright Brothers' first
flight.

''He played the part 100 percent,'' Weidman said. ''He
even looked the part with his moustache and everything.''



610-820-6598

Reporter Romy Varghese contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call