Sarah Renee Rhoads, long-time airport employee who died during an accident at the airport earlier this year, was remembered during the StartSkydiving sixth annual Work Stinks! Boogie held at Middletown Regional Airport, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014.
Greg Lynch
Guest Organizer Guy Wright, from Skydive the Ranch in New York helps skydivers plan a jump during the StartSkydiving sixth annual Work Stinks! Boogie held at Middletown Regional Airport, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014.Sarah Rhoads, 24, of Miamisburg, died after being critically injured when she accidentally walked into an operating airplane propeller this past June. Rhoads was an office manager for more than three years at Start Skydiving Dropzone at 1711 Runway Drive in Middletown.
“She loved the evening when it was over and the fireworks, that was her thing. She wanted to go out and enjoy it,” said John Hart, owner of Start Skydiving. “So to be stuck behind a desk, oh, she’d say works stinks; so it was great to name it after her.”
“Everybody expected to see her when they walked into the main office building, and it’s hard she’s not here,” said Emilee Langenkamp, a local skydiver who knew Rhoads.
“I’d walk in(to the office) in the morning a little sleep,y and she would have a nice smile for me,” said Josh Globac, a local skydiver. “Sarah was an awesome girl, we’ll never forget her. We all love Sarah. We all miss her.”
Rhoads, as she frequently did, walked out of the hangar to the plane on the tarmac to ask the pilot if he wanted any food. But for some reason, she walked into one of the propellers on the Nouvel Air airplane that was idle on the tarmac.
This year’s event began on Aug. 27 and ends on Sept. 1. Last Friday, there was a lantern launch in memory of Rhoads.
“About a 100 lanterns (were launched), and it was absolutely stunning to watch, to see people having fun thinking about her,” said Hart. “You never forget somebody that has a radiant smile that Sarah had.”
On Saturday night, Hart said they had a painting commissioned of Rhoads, “and we’re going to present it to her father, brother and sister; it’s going to be hanging there in the airport. We wanted to have something special that’s here all the time just to see Sarah smile with us.”
Hart predicts approximately 1,000 skydivers will participate in this year’s six-day event. He said skydivers will jump non-stop from three aircrafts this holiday weekend.
“You accelerate to 120 to 130 mph,” said Hart. “It’s a feeling you can’t get anywhere else, and then that parachute opens up, it’s all of a sudden quiet, you get this breathtaking view. There’s nothing greater than the experience of skydiving.”
A five dollar donation, which goes to charity, is the admission fee. Money raised will be donated to the Sgt. James Robinson Memorial Scholarship fund. In addition to skydiving, there’s live music, food and a dunk tank, which Hart knows all too well.
“You got to pay to put somebody in the dunk tank cause everything’s going to charity. I was in it last night quite a few times. I don’t know if people like me or hate me,” Hart said with a laugh.
A huge fireworks show lit up the sky Saturday night around 10 p.m. Hart called it the biggest fireworks show in Butler County this holiday weekend.
“Jumping from the sky with pyrotechnic on our legs to kick it off, and the fireworks display is going to last a good 35 minutes,” said Hart.
Hart said Saturday afternoon that he expected thousands to be on hand for the fireworks show.
Longenkamp and Globac have each been skydiving for three years, and attended this event last year.
“I absolutely love it here, this is my second home, my home away from home,” said Globac. “The energy here is awesome.”
“Great time to be able to be with people you consider your second family and hang out. We get to have fun doing the sport during the day and then hang out and party at night,” said Longenkamp.
Story and Photos: http://www.journal-news.com
Sarah Renee Rhoads
Photo/Start Skydiving
Sarah Renee Rhoads
Start Skydiving
Start Skydiving
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, June 01, 2014 in Middletown, OH
Aircraft: DEHAVILLAND DHC 6 200, registration: N223AL
Injuries: 1 Fatal,1 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On June 1, 2014, about 1400 eastern daylight time, a propeller from a DeHavilland DHC-6-200 airplane, N223AL, struck an employee from the skydiving operator as she walked toward the cockpit while the airplane was standing with the engines operating on a ramp at the Middletown Regional Airport/Hook Field (MWO), near Middletown, Ohio. The employee received fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by Win Win Aviation Inc. under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a skydiving flight. Day visual flight rules conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and the flight was not operating on a flight plan. The local skydiving flight was standing on the MWO ramp while waiting for passengers to board when the accident occurred.
The local MWO skydiving operator, Start Skydiving LLC, contracted with the airplane operator, Win Win Aviation Inc., to supply the airplane and pilot to support skydiving operations at MWO. The skydiving operator operated single-engine airplanes with the propeller located in front of the cockpit; however, the contracted airplane was a twin-engine airplane with its propellers located under each wing.
According to the pilot's report, he asked a skydiving operator's employee if he could order something to eat for lunch as they had talked about earlier in the day. The employee responded that she had time to come see the pilot at the airplane because she was expecting a small delay before the next flight. The pilot thought the delay was not long enough to justify shutting down the engines.
The pilot observed the employee running with a piece of paper once she exited the manifest office, which was about 100 feet in front of the airplane. He reached between two seats to get a pen ready while the employee had to go around a fence to the loading area before entering the airplane parking area. The skydiving operator's employee subsequently walked into the operating propeller under the airplane's left wing.
Accident occurred Sunday, June 01, 2014 in Middletown, OH
Aircraft: DEHAVILLAND DHC 6 200, registration: N223AL
Injuries: 1 Fatal,1 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On June 1, 2014, about 1400 eastern daylight time, a propeller from a DeHavilland DHC-6-200 airplane, N223AL, struck an employee from the skydiving operator as she walked toward the cockpit while the airplane was standing with the engines operating on a ramp at the Middletown Regional Airport/Hook Field (MWO), near Middletown, Ohio. The employee received fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by Win Win Aviation Inc. under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a skydiving flight. Day visual flight rules conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and the flight was not operating on a flight plan. The local skydiving flight was standing on the MWO ramp while waiting for passengers to board when the accident occurred.
The local MWO skydiving operator, Start Skydiving LLC, contracted with the airplane operator, Win Win Aviation Inc., to supply the airplane and pilot to support skydiving operations at MWO. The skydiving operator operated single-engine airplanes with the propeller located in front of the cockpit; however, the contracted airplane was a twin-engine airplane with its propellers located under each wing.
According to the pilot's report, he asked a skydiving operator's employee if he could order something to eat for lunch as they had talked about earlier in the day. The employee responded that she had time to come see the pilot at the airplane because she was expecting a small delay before the next flight. The pilot thought the delay was not long enough to justify shutting down the engines.
The pilot observed the employee running with a piece of paper once she exited the manifest office, which was about 100 feet in front of the airplane. He reached between two seats to get a pen ready while the employee had to go around a fence to the loading area before entering the airplane parking area. The skydiving operator's employee subsequently walked into the operating propeller under the airplane's left wing.
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, June 01, 2014 in Middletown, OH
Aircraft: DEHAVILLAND DHC 6 200, registration: N223AL
Injuries: 1 Fatal,1 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On June 1, 2014, about 1400 eastern daylight time, an employee from the fixed base operator responding to a DeHavilland DHC-6-200 airplane, N223AL, received fatal injuries when she was struck by an operating propeller blade as she walked toward the cockpit while the airplane was standing on a ramp at the Middletown Regional Airport/Hook Field (MWO), near Middletown, Ohio. The airplane sustained minor propeller damage. The airplane was registered to and operated by Win Win Aviation Inc. under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a skydiving flight. Day visual flight rules conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and the flight was not operating on a flight plan. The local skydiving flight was standing on the MWO ramp while waiting for passengers to board when the accident occurred.
At 1355, the recorded weather at MWO was: Wind 240 degrees at 3 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; sky condition clear; temperature 28 degrees C; dew point 11 degrees C; altimeter 30.14 inches of mercury.
Accident occurred Sunday, June 01, 2014 in Middletown, OH
Aircraft: DEHAVILLAND DHC 6 200, registration: N223AL
Injuries: 1 Fatal,1 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On June 1, 2014, about 1400 eastern daylight time, an employee from the fixed base operator responding to a DeHavilland DHC-6-200 airplane, N223AL, received fatal injuries when she was struck by an operating propeller blade as she walked toward the cockpit while the airplane was standing on a ramp at the Middletown Regional Airport/Hook Field (MWO), near Middletown, Ohio. The airplane sustained minor propeller damage. The airplane was registered to and operated by Win Win Aviation Inc. under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a skydiving flight. Day visual flight rules conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and the flight was not operating on a flight plan. The local skydiving flight was standing on the MWO ramp while waiting for passengers to board when the accident occurred.
At 1355, the recorded weather at MWO was: Wind 240 degrees at 3 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; sky condition clear; temperature 28 degrees C; dew point 11 degrees C; altimeter 30.14 inches of mercury.
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