Savannah - Hilton Head - Jackson

On April 26, 1975 at 08:55 PM, Savannah - Hilton Head - Jackson experienced a crash involving Beechcraft 100 King Air, operated by Stribling-Puckett, with the event recorded near Hilton Head South Carolina.

The flight was categorized as executive/corporate/business and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

9 people were known to be on board, 6 fatalities were recorded, 3 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 66.7%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 8, passenger fatalities: 5, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft was ferried from Savannah, Georgia, to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for a corporate flight to Jackson, Mississippi. The aircraft was owned and operated by Stribling-Puckett, Inc. The flight to Hilton Head Island was completed without incident. The pilot of N700SP loaded the passenger baggage; a witness to the loading indicated that the pilot loaded the baggage carefully in the baggage compartment in the aft end of the cabin. At 21:45, the eight passengers boarded the aircraft with one passenger seated in the copilot's seat. The engines were started and the aircraft was taxied to runway 3 for takeoff. The aircraft was taxied onto the 300-foot overrun on the south end of the runway, turned 180° on the runway, and made a "running" takeoff. Two pilots, one inside the terminal and another outside, stated that they did not believe the engines were developing full power during the takeoff. However, there were no unusual sounds, and the engines were operating "smoothly." Both of these pilots believed that the takeoff run was excessively long. The aircraft used about 3,900 feet of pavement to takeoff including most of the 300-foot overrun where the takeoff began. After takeoff, the aircraft was leveled off and was flown straight and level for about 1,200 feet. There it struck the top of a tree which was 40 to 50 feet above the ground. After impact with the trees, the aircraft continued 1,200 to 1,300 feet and struck several other trees before it came to rest right side up. Fire erupted some distance behind the aircraft, but progressed toward the aircraft slowly. The slow progression of the fire allowed the three survivors time to escape through a hole in the left front side of the fuselage. Roger W. Stribling, Jr., Vice President of the Stribling-Puckett, Inc, was killed in the crash. Company President Ben Puckett suffered a broken back in the accident. Those killed were: Roger Stribling Jr., Max Williams, Henry Clements, Clark Boyce Sr., Eddie Stanton, Gordon Ellison.

Aircraft reference details include registration N700SP, MSN B-92, year of manufacture 1972.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 32.1618°, -80.7513°.