Yesterday National Park Service contractors finally removed the remaining wreckage of a Cessna 414A plane that crashed near Waterrock Knob way in Blue Ridge Parkway back in November 1983.
“While we understand the interest associated with this site, the resource damage and visitor safety issues presented too great a threat to take no action. Caring for these special places requires everyone’s cooperation, and we ask that everyone play a role in the protection of this place and not cause any further damage or injury to the resources or themselves by going off trail to find this site.” –Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Tracy Swartout
The land where the crash site is located was donated to the Blue Ridge Parkway in 2016. Since then the area has seen a ton of visitors accessing the
wreckage by way of unauthorized social trails, causing concerns for the safety of hikers as well as severe damage to rare and sensitive species. from trampling, erosion, soil compaction and vegetation removal.
Transylvania Times reports due to the remote location of the wreckage the plane required a helicopter airlift to remove the final sections of the fuselage.
At the time of the 1983 crash, the engines were salvaged from the site but the rest has remained in place for the last 39 years. Both passengers aboard the plane perished in the 1983 crash.
