More detail on this person: It is with deep
sadness that we report the loss of PHX AB Captain
Sherman Anderson and his wife, Sherry, along with
one other passenger aboard a small plane that
crashed about one mile west of Telluride Regional
Airport, CO, on Sunday, February 16, 2014.
"Sherman grew up in southern Georgia. He
graduated from Bacon County High School in Alma,
Georgia. He attended Georgia Southern. His
education was interrupted by the draft. He was
honorably discharged as a Warrant Officer,
Helicopter Pilot in 1971. Sherman had a passion
for flying as you can see from his record below.
He was looking forward to helping young people
experience the magic of flying after retirement
later this year."
Captain Anderson had over 30,000 flight hours. He
earned his BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE
from the University of the State of New York in
Albany, NY. He was Honorably Discharged as a US
Army Warrant Officer, Helicopter Pilot
(1969-1971), flew for ATCO in Alma, Georgia
(1971-1981), Atlantic Southeast Airlines
(1981-1987), Eastern Airlines (1987-1989), and
Captain Anderson was hired by America West
Airlines/US Airways in September 1990 and was a
Captain on the Airbus 319/320/321.
Sherman Hamilton Anderson, 64, of Phoenix, Ariz.,
died suddenly Sunday (Feb. 16, 2014) in Colorado,
along with his wife, Sherry Anderson, from
injuries sustained in an airplane crash.
He was a native of Jacksonville, Fla. who lived
many years in Bacon County before moving to
Phoenix many years ago.
A 1967 graduate of Bacon County High School, he
attended Georgia Southern College in Statesboro
and graduated from Phoenix University.
He was responsible for teaching many to become
pilots in this area and a was veteran of the
Vietnam War. He was awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross for heroism while participating in
aerial flight evidenced by voluntary actions above
and beyond the call of duty and for exceptionally
valorous actions while serving as pilot in command
and control of his aircraft during a combat
operation in the Seven Sisters Mountain Area,
displaying dynamic airmanship and undaunted
courage, braving intense fire on countless
occasions throughout the battle and for his heroic
actions in keeping with the highest traditions of
the military service and the U.S. Army.
He was a pilot/captain with U.S. Airways the past
35 years and was a member of Douglas Chapel
Baptist Church.
Survivors include his daughter, Samantha Keene
Anderson, of Phoenix, Ariz.; his parents, Maynard
Colvin Anderson and Vera "Bea" Rentz Anderson,
of Alma; a brother, Mark Anderson (Jackie), of
Brunswick.
The funeral will be held Wednesday at 3 o'clock in
the chapel of Crosby Funeral Home with the Rev.
Tom Davis and the Rev. Jerry Chancy officiating.
Interment will follow in Douglas Chapel Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the funeral
home Wednesday from noon until funeral time.
Donations may be made to the Pilots for Kids, P.O.
Box 620052, Orlando, Fla. 32862-0052 or the
Alzheimer's Association at alz.org Active
pallbearers will be Marvin Deen, Jimmy McCall,
Jerry and David Lee, James Henry Carter, Jay
Williams and Jim Mc-Quaig. Honorary pallbearers
will be Roger Johnson, Jimmy and Johnny Nobles,
Tom Harris, Mayo Mims and all others in
attendance.
Crosby Funeral Home is in charge of all the
arrangements.
Waycross Journal Herald (GA) - Monday, February
24, 2014
Sherman Anderson, Sherry Anderson, and Eric
Durban: Plane crash victims remembered as 'great
people'
TELLURIDE - As federal aviation officials descend
on the site of Sunday's fatal plane crash, the
friends and colleagues of the three victims - all
of whom were pilots - struggle to understand what
went wrong.
Sherman Anderson, 64; his wife, Sherry Anderson,
57; and Eric Durban, 48, perished when the
Beechcraft Debonair BE35-33 in which they were
flying crashed in mountainous terrain about 1 mile
west of Telluride Regional Airport, shortly after
take-off.
The 1960 fixed-wing, single-engine craft was
acquired by Arizona Cloudbusters Flying Club just
last May, according to Federal Aviation
Administration records.
All three victims had been club members, John
Hartman said on Monday, on behalf of the club.
"It's real unfortunate. They were great people and
great pilots. I don't know what happened," he
said.
The club in a news release extended condolences
to the Anderson and Durban families and said it is
fully cooperating with state and federal officials
to determine why the plane went down.
Sherman Anderson reportedly worked for US
Airways as a commercial pilot. Durban was
identified as a former military pilot. Sherry
Anderson flew for United Airlines, a spokesman
confirmed Monday.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the
families during this difficult time," Luke
Punzenberg said.
The three took off from Phoenix at 8 a.m.
(Colorado time) Sunday, landing at Telluride at
10:29, according to radar data Civil Air Patrol
pilot Mark Young shared with the Daily Press. The
plane departed at about 11:20 a.m. in light snow
and calm winds, reportedly bound for Cortez, but
soon vanished from radar. The last radar target
received was at 11:26 a.m., a half mile off the
end of the runway, according to data.
Air traffic controllers in Denver alerted the San
Miguel County Sheriff's Office, which immediately
launched a search.
The plane's emergency locator transponder could
have malfunctioned, because it did not immediately
emit a readable signal, Sheriff Bill Masters said.
"We don't really know what caused that. Initially,
it was not going off and then it started going off
and we received the signal," he said.
The SMCSO used nearly a dozen trained personnel
and the Civil Air Patrol to search for the downed
plane. Masters said inbound and outbound planes
at Telluride were also monitoring for the
frequency, and two ground radars were also in use.
Young said the CAP was called out at 3:15 p.m.
and was able to pick up the ELT signal. The CAP
established the signal's proximity, narrowing down
the search field for ground radar and SMCSO
deputies in a contracted helicopter.
Deputies spotted the wreckage at 5:17 p.m., about
300 feet down from the top of the cliff band it
had crashed into, Masters said. The Beechcraft had
burned. Deputies confirmed no one had survived.
Authorities planned out recovery efforts, which
took place Monday morning over several hours as
deputies negotiated the steep, treed terrain to
reach the victims, all of whom were found with the
plane.
All three bodies have been handed over to the San
Miguel County coroner.
It was not immediately clear who had been at the
controls, or whether the plane had recently
fueled. Masters said he did not know if icing
might have been a factor.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National
Transportation Safety Board are investigating the
crash and have not determined the cause, said Ian
Gregor, FAA public affairs manager. Preliminary
reports may be made within a few weeks, but
determining probable cause of crashes tends to
take months, he said.
Masters said his office is assisting the NTSB's
investigators with removing the plane's wreckage
today.
"This is certainly not the outcome we were hoping
for. It's just a terrible tragedy," Masters said
in a Sunday news release.
The triple fatal follows a spate of deadly small
aircraft crashes late last year. November crashes
in Delta County killed Tari Taricco of California
on his way to Aspen, and Jason Cook of Montrose,
as he reportedly traveled to the Crawford Airport
for a pilot's test. In December, Dana Brewer,
William Kennon and Jim Platz, all of Mesa County,
died in a crash near Collbran.
Montrose Daily Press, The (CO) - Tuesday,
February 18, 2014
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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