Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Jet crash kills Ketchum woman

Pilots, N.H. executive also slain in California airport accident


By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Four people, including a Ketchum resident, were killed early Tuesday morning when a Cessna 560 twin engine jet skidded off the end of the runway and burst into flames at McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, Calif. The flight had originated about an hour and a half earlier from Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey.

Janet Shafran, the wife of Ketchum City Councilman Steven Shafran, was one of the passengers, according to a family friend, who said Shafran had retrieved his four children from the Community School to fly to California.

Community School Headmaster John Maksik called a school assembly to inform middle school and high school students of the tragedy Tuesday morning. Elementary school students were informed later in the day. The Shafrans' four children Isabelle, Reid, Maggie and Annie attend elementary and middle school classes.

Students were told that Carolyn Nystrom with the Hospice of the Wood River Valley would be available to talk with them.

"We encouraged (students) to call their parents—to do whatever they need to do," Maksik said. "We're a pretty close community, so it's a blow."

According to the Union Leader, a Manchester, N.H., newspaper, the second passenger on the flight was Frank H. Jellinek, Jr., of Hampton, N.H. Jellinek is one of the state's most prominent corporate executives, according to the Union Leader. He had been chairman emeritus of Fisher Scientific in Hampton since Aug. 2, 2004, and had several other corporate associations and positions to his credit.

Two pilots, whose identities had not been confirmed by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office by the end of the day Tuesday, are presumed to be local residents.

Federal Aviation Administration Regional Spokesman Allen Kenitzer confirmed that four people died in the crash that occurred at 6:40 a.m. Kenitzer said the plane hit a shack that housed the airport's instrument landing system equipment.

According to The Associated Press, the plane slammed through a barricade and careened down a 100- to 150-foot bluff, leaving a trail of aircraft parts behind it. It then glanced off the side of the Carlsbad Airport Self-Storage facility before coming to a rest in a tangled ball of metal and flames. There were no reports of anyone injured on the ground.

"We know that a jet took off about 5:47 a.m.," said Friedman Memorial Airport Manager Rick Baird, who explained that any flight plan and passenger manifest would have been filed via radio, telephone or computer with the FAA, since the Hailey airport tower is only staffed between 6:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. "We think we know who one of the pilots was."

Baird said he was not inclined to mention names before next of kin have been notified of the accident.

State incorporation records show the airplane is owned by Kipp Nelson and Steve Shafran, both of Ketchum. Shafran was appointed this month to the Ketchum City Council and Nelson is an investment banker and a member of the board of directors of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation.

The National Transportation and Safety Board is heading the investigation into the cause of the accident. Eyewitnesses reported that the plane's landing gear was up.




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.