Susan Grieco/Herald
The body of Patrick Sheridan was carried from St. Ignatius Martyr Church after Sheridan’s funeral service on Tuesday.
Long Beach resident Patrick Sheridan, an aviation student at SUNY Farmingdale, was killed in a plane crash on May 9 in Pennsylvania.
Hundreds of people turned out on Tuesday morning to say goodbye to Patrick Sheridan, a Long Beach resident and Farmingdale State College aviation student who died in a plane crash on May 9, at age 34.
“These are my aunt Rose’s words: Patrick has left us too soon,” said Sheridan’s cousin Doreen Cooper, referring to Patrick’s mother, Rosemary. “He had a dream to become a pilot, which he did accomplish. He left us doing what he loved best — flying.”
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the crash occurred shortly after 10:30 p.m. last Wednesday. After taking off from Spring Hill Airport in Sterling, Pa., the plane, a four-seat, single-engine Mooney M20J with Sheridan at the controls, crashed in Wayne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania. Sheridan and Casey Falconer, 19, of Garden City Park, were killed and a third passenger, Evan Kisseloff, 21, of Oceanside, was injured but survived. Kisseloff took part in Farmingdale’s commencement ceremony last Saturday, which honored the two dead students.
“As far as the campus mood, there have been a lot of tears here,” Patrick Calabria, Farmingdale’s vice president for institutional advancement, said last Friday. “We’re devastated — especially students in the aviation program who knew the students who were killed … I didn’t know Patrick personally, but I’m told he just loved flying, that it was his dream.”
The flight the students took was not associated with any college program, the school said. They were apparently on their way to visit Falconer’s family in Pennsylvania. Sheridan was a licensed pilot.
According to Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the NTSB, the agency is investigating the accident. A preliminary report was expected to be made available on the NTSB website this week, but it will be a year before a final report is released, Knudson said.
The plane was registered to Sheridan Air LLC, which lists Sheridan as the owner and an address on Tennessee Avenue in Long Beach, where his mother lives. According to his Facebook profile, Sheridan was a 1996 graduate of Long Beach High School and attended Nassau Community College. He founded Sheridan Air last May, and was a senior at SUNY Farmingdale.
“Our campus is in shock, and we are all trying to come to grips with this tragedy,” said Calabria. “Our hearts are with the family and friends of the two students who died. President [W. Hubert] Keen has released a message to the entire campus community and has reached out to the families of the victims to offer whatever comfort and support is needed, as well as to the student who survived.”
St. Ignatius Martyr Church was filled with mourners at Tuesday’s 10 a.m. funeral mass, with many people wiping away tears.
“She was devastated,” Deacon Tom Evrard said of Sheridan’s mother, a widow who raised Patrick and his brother, Phillip, after their father died unexpectedly about 30 years ago. “But she’s at peace. She’s very religious and she works very hard for the church.”
Evrard said that Rosemary Sheridan is involved in a number of outreach programs at St. Ignatius. “‘Woman of the church,’ they call her,” he said. “She’s a very holy, prayerful person.”
Neither Rosemary nor Phillip Sheridan spoke during the funeral service, but Patrick’s cousin Dan McCormack recalled fond memories. “He was a good kid, and he was always on an adventure somewhere, always on the run, and it’s very sad that he had to go so early,” McCormack said. “I’m going to miss him.”
McCormack, who played bagpipes outside the church before and after the mass to honor the family’s Irish heritage, said that Sheridan was always “doing his own thing,” and his mother said that he frequently invited neighbors to fly with him.
“He saw and visited more places in a very short time,” said Cooper. “He was looking for something. He will be missed, but I believe he is in a far better place today and he is at peace. He is fulfilled.”
Alex Costello and Anthony Rifilato contributed to this story.
“These are my aunt Rose’s words: Patrick has left us too soon,” said Sheridan’s cousin Doreen Cooper, referring to Patrick’s mother, Rosemary. “He had a dream to become a pilot, which he did accomplish. He left us doing what he loved best — flying.”
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the crash occurred shortly after 10:30 p.m. last Wednesday. After taking off from Spring Hill Airport in Sterling, Pa., the plane, a four-seat, single-engine Mooney M20J with Sheridan at the controls, crashed in Wayne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania. Sheridan and Casey Falconer, 19, of Garden City Park, were killed and a third passenger, Evan Kisseloff, 21, of Oceanside, was injured but survived. Kisseloff took part in Farmingdale’s commencement ceremony last Saturday, which honored the two dead students.
“As far as the campus mood, there have been a lot of tears here,” Patrick Calabria, Farmingdale’s vice president for institutional advancement, said last Friday. “We’re devastated — especially students in the aviation program who knew the students who were killed … I didn’t know Patrick personally, but I’m told he just loved flying, that it was his dream.”
The flight the students took was not associated with any college program, the school said. They were apparently on their way to visit Falconer’s family in Pennsylvania. Sheridan was a licensed pilot.
According to Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the NTSB, the agency is investigating the accident. A preliminary report was expected to be made available on the NTSB website this week, but it will be a year before a final report is released, Knudson said.
The plane was registered to Sheridan Air LLC, which lists Sheridan as the owner and an address on Tennessee Avenue in Long Beach, where his mother lives. According to his Facebook profile, Sheridan was a 1996 graduate of Long Beach High School and attended Nassau Community College. He founded Sheridan Air last May, and was a senior at SUNY Farmingdale.
“Our campus is in shock, and we are all trying to come to grips with this tragedy,” said Calabria. “Our hearts are with the family and friends of the two students who died. President [W. Hubert] Keen has released a message to the entire campus community and has reached out to the families of the victims to offer whatever comfort and support is needed, as well as to the student who survived.”
St. Ignatius Martyr Church was filled with mourners at Tuesday’s 10 a.m. funeral mass, with many people wiping away tears.
“She was devastated,” Deacon Tom Evrard said of Sheridan’s mother, a widow who raised Patrick and his brother, Phillip, after their father died unexpectedly about 30 years ago. “But she’s at peace. She’s very religious and she works very hard for the church.”
Evrard said that Rosemary Sheridan is involved in a number of outreach programs at St. Ignatius. “‘Woman of the church,’ they call her,” he said. “She’s a very holy, prayerful person.”
Neither Rosemary nor Phillip Sheridan spoke during the funeral service, but Patrick’s cousin Dan McCormack recalled fond memories. “He was a good kid, and he was always on an adventure somewhere, always on the run, and it’s very sad that he had to go so early,” McCormack said. “I’m going to miss him.”
McCormack, who played bagpipes outside the church before and after the mass to honor the family’s Irish heritage, said that Sheridan was always “doing his own thing,” and his mother said that he frequently invited neighbors to fly with him.
“He saw and visited more places in a very short time,” said Cooper. “He was looking for something. He will be missed, but I believe he is in a far better place today and he is at peace. He is fulfilled.”
Alex Costello and Anthony Rifilato contributed to this story.
Source: http://www.liherald.com
NTSB Identification: ERA12FA327
Accident occurred Wednesday, May 09, 2012 in Sterling, PA
Aircraft: MOONEY M20J, registration: N9154K
Injuries: 2 Fatal,1 Serious.
On May 9, 2012, about 2225 eastern daylight
time, a Mooney M20J, N9154K, was substantially damaged following a
collision with trees and terrain after takeoff from Spring Hill Airport
(70N), Sterling, Pennsylvania. The certificated commercial pilot and one
pilot-rated passenger were fatally injured and one passenger received
serious injuries. The airplane was registered to a corporation and
operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal
Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Night visual meteorological
conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was
filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and was
destined for Republic Airport, Farmingdale, New York (FRG).
Reportedly,
the flight arrived at 70N earlier in the evening after refueling at
Lancaster, Pennsylvania (LNS). After the pilot and passengers returned
to the airport, the flight departed on runway 23. Radio and radar
contact with air traffic control was not established. The airplane
crashed about 0.37 nautical miles southwest of the departure end of
runway 23.
An initial examination of the wreckage revealed the
following. The accident site was situated in a wooded area. The airplane
wreckage was found inverted, on a heading of 090 degrees. All
structural components of the airplane were located within the area of
the main wreckage. A post-crash fire consumed a majority of the cockpit,
cabin, and left wing. The landing gear were found in the extended
position and the wing flaps were found in the takeoff position.
A
lighted hill, about 29 feet high, was located about 201 feet from the
runway end. Runway 23 had a 2.4-percent upslope. All airport lighting
was reportedly operational at the time of the accident.
A witness
reported hearing the airplane's engine, followed by the sound of the
airplane colliding with the trees and ground. She went outside her home
and could see the wreckage on fire. The surviving passenger came running
out of the woods, calling for help.
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