Mountain Empire Airport itself seemed in no mood for flying Monday afternoon.
The sky overhead was gray, the planes still. In Hangar 7, the maintenance shop, the big sliding door was closed, the lights off, silence replacing the usual echoes of talk and laughter at a joke or something goofy a politician had done.
For a long time Monday afternoon, only a starling flew over the airport before a plane hummed over on approach for a fuel stop.
It had only been four days since a pilot left the field in his new home-built airplane, eager to soar into a brilliant October sky. Travis Berry’s dream ended tragically a few seconds later in a pasture northwest of the airport.
Charlie Hoofnagle, himself a pilot, handles the day-to-day operations at the airport – fueling planes, moving them in and out of the hangar, talking to pilots on the radio. On Monday, the tragedy of the crash and subsequent sleeplessness showed in his eyes. A pilot’s loss is felt by all pilots.
Berry sometimes came to the airfield after work in his Department of Corrections uniform and talked with the other pilots, the airport staff and plane mechanic Curt Pennington at Hangar 7, staying until closing time, Hoofnagle said.
“He was happy, smiled a lot, and was always kind of chipper,” Hoofnagle said.
Pennington helped Berry assemble his plane, a Rand Robinson KR-2, bolting the wings in place, making it airworthy. He and Hoofnagle coached Berry to be careful.
Hoofnagle remembered Berry as a by-the-book, meticulous flier. He said after lunch Thursday, although Berry had been away from his plane less than an hour, he ran a preflight check before taking off.
“We were impressed by that,” Hoofnagle said.
Berry had also waited, unlike some, for receipt of Federal Aviation Administration paperwork required to legally take his new plane up, Hoofnagle said.
“He was a good kid, good background. He worked hard,” Hoofnagle said.
Hoofnagle and Pennington were the last to talk with Berry, who had gotten the feel of his plane on the ground that morning, gone to lunch with Hoofnagle and Pennington, then took his plane down the runway and into the air.
“Curt and I stood here and watched him leave,” Hoofnagle said.
In moments Hoofnagle and Pennington sped up Highway 11 then down Interstate 81 to the place just across the Wythe County line where Berry’s KR-2 disappeared behind a stand of trees.
“I was hoping to find him standing there, dusting himself off, and saying, ‘I tore up my plane,’” Hoofnagle recalled.
There was nothing Hoofnagle could do. And a sense of deep respect for a fellow pilot anchored him stoically by Berry’s body until others came who would care for it and begin learning why a flight so full of hope ended so absent of it.
Berry taxied one last time down Mountain Empire runway Monday morning. Hoofnagle said the hearse, followed by his family, drove down the tarmac as others in the funeral procession watched from the ramp.
Hoofnagle said arrayed in uniform were Berry’s colleagues from Marion Correctional Treatment Center. Berry’s boss, warden David Boehm said Tuesday Berry started with MCTC in April 2011 after a history of being in the construction business.
“Officer Berry came from a correctional background with his father, Ron Berry, a retired training sergeant, and his brother Adam Berry a state trooper,” Boehm said. “Travis quickly demonstrated his commitment to making corrections a career by joining the honor guard and demonstrating the spirit of team work. He had completed all training and was ready for his certification as a Correctional Officer Senior. In his demeanor he was quiet, but compassionate and professional. He will be missed by our staff.”
It was a fitting tribute to a passion of 22 years that apparently was in full flight in a 16-year-old Travis Berry when, his mother, Felicia, told The Roanoke Times, he asked her to drive past the airport so he could see the planes. He went inside to sign up for flying lessons from which his mother thought his age would disqualify him. He was accepted, and she paid for his lessons.
Berry’s obituary said he was born June 16, 1973, graduated in 1992 from Chilhowie High School and “proudly received his pilot’s license on February 6, 1992.”
The obituary said he “worked diligently in life and achieved ownership of a construction company and cabinet shop; he became a master at craftsmanship in woodworking. He was an avid golfer and loved snow skiing, but his consuming passion was being a pilot. Travis truly cherished the time he spent flying his own airplane. He was also employed at Marion Correctional Treatment Center, which helped enable him to live his life’s dream.”
He is survived by his wife, Gina Berry; one daughter, Algiemy, and one son, Vall; his mother, Felicia Robbins Berry Mann and husband, Don; his father, Ron Berry and wife, Janet; one brother, Adam Berry and wife, Chasity; his grandmother, Della Robbins; his grandfather, Ralph Berry and wife, Doris; niece, Hannah Berry and nephews, Stone, Jaedian and Ty Berry; stepbrother, D.J. Mann; stepsisters, Candy Mizer and Cheryl Cathcart; best friends, loved like brothers, Shawn Selecman and Larry Thomas; his aunt, Wanda Robbins Pickle; cousins Jennifer Patterson and Charlie Pickle; and numerous other great-aunts, great-uncles and cousins, his obituary said.
His funeral was held Monday at Elizabeth United Methodist Church in Teas with the Rev. Charles Leonard, the Rev. Jerry Eggers and the Rev. Bobby Dunn officiating. Burial followed in Pugh Cemetery, Teas. The Marion Correctional Treatment Center Honor Guard served as pallbearers. Donations may be made to the Travis Berry Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 427, Marion, VA 24354.
A condolence message to Berry’s family posted on Seaver-Brown Funeral Service’s website showed Berry’s loss being acknowledged by distant colleagues. “On behalf of KR-2 pilots and builders around the world, may we express our condolences and love to each of you in your recent loss. Few of us knew Travis personally, but all who share his passion for flying are grieving for each of you. He will be remembered,” read a note posted over “Rev. Art Bruce Oct 9, 2011 Bainbridge, GA.”
Federal investigators arrived Friday to comb through the wreckage. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board would conduct a joint investigation. It could be several days before investigators release any preliminary findings on the crash, the spokesman said.
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