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March 29, 2024

Edgar County Airport: Inconsistencies in excuses for plane crash…

By John Kraft & Kirk Allen

On January 31, 2015

PARIS, IL. (ECWd) –

As I was cleaning out old boxes and filing papers today, I came across some notes from a “TIPS” meeting I attended last October in Springfield.

One of the items mentioned by the IDOT – Div of Aeronautics was that there was funding available for airports that needed to provide protection from animals, and in particular deer. This money could be used for fencing, or other abatement measures.

What answer did the Edgar County Airport provide for that offer? No Thanks! We don’t have a deer problem and do not expect to need any deterrent measures for deer. We have never had this problem and do not expect to.

Imagine that… Just days after an unreported airplane crash at the Edgar County Airport, with rumors of “a deer ran out in front of it on landing” to “we were testing the generator and were not flying” to “Jerry Griffin was not in the plane” to “Jerry Griffin was a passenger” to “Jerry Griffin was the flight instructor for the owner’s daughter who came in on a hard landing” to “nobody saw anything and nobody knows how the plane got from the runway into the hangar after it crashed“.

One thing that we already proved a lie, was Jerry Griffin stating the crash happened in June or July before he was the airport manager – but the receipts for fuel purchased showed the airplane involved in the crash was fueled up in August – after he was the manager.

Questions are still out there, and answers are slowly trickling in…but the main questions still need an answer” Why lie? and Why keep it a secret?

I suspect both answers will lead to the need to keep things from the insurance company so they will still pay out on the claims.

 

 

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4 Comments
  • Mike
    Posted at 08:52h, 01 February

    I don’t live in your area don’t know any of the participants in this incident but it’s pretty obvious to me after flying airplanes for 33 years that the writer of the story has an ax to grind and doesn’t know anything at all about aviation and

  • Robert O. Bogue
    Posted at 20:01h, 01 February

    Mike, Thanks for commenting. I can’t speak for the author but I’m a little familiar with aviation here in Edgar County. The person mentioned, Jerry Griffin, is at the present moment the Edgar County Airport Manager and unfortunately, has been since August 2014.

    If you care to search this web site for “airport” information, you will find past articles dealing with the fabrications Jerry told on his resume as well as the actual documents he submitted in which to obtain this position. There are many other discrepancies. Jerry does not hold a current medical and as you know, that would be something one would need in which to be flying non-pilot passengers.

    This article might seem differently… if you knew Mr.Griffin and the owners of the said damaged aircraft: are long time friends and each with incentives to keep this crash and the details of it on the down low. Would it seem odd to you if neither Jerry nor the airplanes owner can recall when this crash occurred; or the details of this crash and that it’s been purposely keep from the public? It does to me, for the reasons stated and to many others.

    As noted, June was chosen as the crash month by Jerry and the plane’s owner: but the airport records indicate the plane was re-fueled on the last day in July 2013. Clearly these are more lies.

    The Edgar County Airport has in many ways become a magnet for lies, dishonesty and corruption. A totally fraudulent grant submitted to the FAA was approved and then recalled by the FAA when the facts became known. Management here was instrumental in making that happen and for the embarrassment that has followed. Jerry Griffin is just another chapter…… in wrong doing.

  • Leslie Nielson
    Posted at 22:58h, 09 February

    WOW, what’s the penalty for Obstructing an FAA investigation, submitting false information, and failing to follow S.O.P. for aircraft crash / incident reporting, etc? I noted that “Mike” says he’s not from this area, but states he has “33 years experience flying airplanes” but goes on to allege that JM Kraft has “an axe to grind.” If Mike were truly not from the area and therefore unbiased on the issues surrounding the Edgar County Airport, as he attempts to lead us to believe, how & why would he make such a statement? Further, if he has been a pilot for 33 years, he knows about FAA rules and regs regarding the reporting requirements for crashes / damage incidents. Overall…a pretty incredibly biased view from an individual who purports to be an uninterested third party, licensed pilot. His declaration, “I’ve been flying airplanes for 33 years” is a rather way to state that he is a licensed pilot. Sorry, but no one is buying any of that, “Mike.”

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