Derry, PA. September 5, 1978

[latrobian]

I would like to know if anyone has any ideas of what online chronicle newspaper articles I could find out about this date in Derry, Pa? Thanks.

[SO and SO]

NTSB Identification: NYC78FA088
14 CFR Part 91 General Aviation
Event occurred Monday, September 04, 1978 in DERRY, PA
Aircraft: HUGHES 269C, registration: N7466F

---------- FILE DATE LOCATION AIRCRAFT DATA INJURIES FLIGHT PILOT DATA F S M/N PURPOSE----------3-3389 78/9/4 DERRY,PA HUGHES 269C CR- 0 0 1 MISCELLANEOUS PRIVATE, AGE 34, 224 TIME - 1455 N7466F PX- 0 0 2 OTHER PUBLIC TOTAL HOURS, 59 IN TYPE, DAMAGE-SUBSTANTIAL OT- 0 0 0 NOT INSTRUMENT RATED. DEPARTURE POINT INTENDED DESTINATION LAST ENROUTE STOP WEST MIFFLIN,PA RETURN LATROBE,PA TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION COLLISION WITH GROUND/WATER: UNCONTROLLED IN FLIGHT: OTHER PROBABLE CAUSE(S) PILOT IN COMMAND - FAILED TO FOLLOW APPROVED PROCEDURES,DIRECTIVES,ETC. PILOT IN COMMAND - MISJUDGED DISTANCE,SPEED,AND ALTITUDE FACTOR(S) TERRAIN - HIGH OBSTRUCTIONS REMARKS- DROPPING PING-PONG BALLS. CHURCH SCHOOL ON LEFT. COLLIDED WITH CARNIVAL TENT AND CHAIN LINK FENCE.

[SO and SO]

Latrobian: I can only think of one important "news event" you might be referring to... is the helicopter crash that happened in Derry. That exact day was September 4,1978. I assume from your "name" you are from Latrobe. Perhaps, you should take a trip back to the Latrobe Library and lookup back-issues of newspapers from September 5,1978.

[Kevin]

Upstairs in the Derry Borough building is a quasi-Fireman's Museum. Included in the exhibits are newspaper clippings on everything that happened that day. Call the fire station or the Police Department and ask them to let you in.

[Jake]

Beware. People in Derry don't like to talk about that event AT ALL. I'm assuming you pretty much know what happened, and you just want to know the specifics and/or you've got some sort of macabre fascination with that horrible event. I'd highly advise you to just quit thinking about it. Most of the residents of Derry at that time actually witnessed that event, and naturally it was extremely traumatic for them. But that was 1978, and back then they just swept it under the rug and pretended like it never happened. I'm more than sure there's still a lot of people in that town suffering from Post Traumatic Stress due to having witnessed it.

If I were you, I wouldn't dig. You already know what happened, so just leave it at that. You're an insensitive prick if you go around stirring up horrible memories that those poor people who witnessed the horror that day have spent their lives trying to forget.

[Tom]

Kevin wrote:

Upstairs in the Derry Borough building is a quasi-Fireman's Museum. Included in the exhibits are newspaper clippings on everything that happened that day. Call the fire station or the Police Department and ask them to let you in.

Is that you Snuffy Punk?

[former derry]

Jake wrote:

Beware. People in Derry don't like to talk about that event AT ALL. I'm assuming you pretty much know what happened, and you just want to know the specifics and/or you've got some sort of macabre fascination with that horrible event. I'd highly advise you to just quit thinking about it. Most of the residents of Derry at that time actually witnessed that event, and naturally it was extremely traumatic for them. But that was 1978, and back then they just swept it under the rug and pretended like it never happened. I'm more than sure there's still a lot of people in that town suffering from Post Traumatic Stress due to having witnessed it.
If I were you, I wouldn't dig. You already know what happened, so just leave it at that. You're an insensitive prick if you go around stirring up horrible memories that those poor people who witnessed the horror that day have spent their lives trying to forget.

AMEN

[Xlntjim]

The people in Derry that don't wanna talk about the crash either weren't there or were too drunk to remember. You have to remember that Derry is a dirty little town that was in the process of dying at that time. It has since passed into the memories of those of us that grew up and were fortunate enough to get away from there.
The people in Derry don't talk to each other let alone to an outsider....unless they can make a buck on it.

[former derry]

Xlntjim wrote:

The people in Derry that don't wanna talk about the crash either weren't there or were too drunk to remember. You have to remember that Derry is a dirty little town that was in the process of dying at that time. It has since passed into the memories of those of us that grew up and were fortunate enough to get away from there.
The people in Derry don't talk to each other let alone to an outsider....unless they can make a buck on it.

Are you drunk now?

[Pennywise]

Xlntjim wrote:

You have to remember that Derry is a dirty little town that was in the process of dying at that time. It has since passed into the memories of those of us that grew up and were fortunate enough to get away from there.

BEEP BEEP JIM CLAUS! It's me....PENNYWISE! You may have moved your scrawny ass out to Cali, but I'm still here....waiting. BEEP BEEP! Bring your friends when you come back! You'll come back! And I'll be waiting for you and all your friends....in the DEAD LIGHTS!

[XLNTJIM]

Pennywise wrote:

<quoted text>
BEEP BEEP JIM CLAUS! It's me....PENNYWISE! You may have moved your scrawny ass out to Cali, but I'm still here....waiting. BEEP BEEP! Bring your friends when you come back! You'll come back! And I'll be waiting for you and all your friends....in the DEAD LIGHTS!

Crawl back in yer bottle and under yer rock Pennypecker. You're so worldly that yew think that ALBUQUERQUE is in CALI??? Yew belong in Derry and Apollo numbnutz.

[steelerfan]

Hey Latrobian,

While you were growing up, did you ever step foot in Derry? Probably not, because we would have kicked your ass then and still would now if we knew who you were. Mind your own business and forget about your stupid questions. Most of us were there, knew every person there and remember what the yellow brick road looked like for weeks..........where were you? Probably at Latrobe Country Club with mommy and daddy.

[Living in Derry now]

Xlntjim wrote:

The people in Derry that don't wanna talk about the crash either weren't there or were too drunk to remember. You have to remember that Derry is a dirty little town that was in the process of dying at that time. It has since passed into the memories of those of us that grew up and were fortunate enough to get away from there.
The people in Derry don't talk to each other let alone to an outsider....unless they can make a buck on it.

For some of us, Derry has become a wonderful place to raise children. I raised mine here, having come from another part of the country. I have found 99% of the people to be kind, good neighbors. As far as it being "dirty", it is not. Buildings have been razed, and things aren't perfect, but it's not "dirty." The town pool, Derry Great Garage Sale, RR Days, etc. are more than I had growing up, in my suburban town! Maybe part of the reason you had so much trouble was YOUR attitude. Although I would have to say, the Derry cops tend to stir up trouble, especially with the young people.

[ex derry]

Living in Derry now wrote:

<quoted text>
For some of us, Derry has become a wonderful place to raise children.

You have got to be kidding me. Derry? A wonderful place to raise children? Either you're walking around with rose-colored glasses, or you've been snorting the same heroin your kids are probably on.

I grew up in Derry township, made the worst mistake of my life by buying a house in town, and now (thank God) I'm finally outta there. The whole Derry/Latrobe region has gone straight to hell within the past 10 years, in case you haven't noticed. Oh my god...I can't believe your insane post! I could go on for hours about that horror of a town, but I have a sneaking suspicion others will do it for me after this post.

Have fun in Derry. Have fun either watching your kids go to rehab for banging smack into their veins (along with 60% of their peers), or chewing your nails to the bone waiting for the day they come home and tell you they've got a heroin problem. Have fun having your vehicle and home repeatedly broken into by junkies so they can sell your cd's and cell phone charger for one more stamp bag. Have fun watching your property value get flushed down the toilet the next time WPXI or KDKA does a little story on your area's love affair with opiates. And have fun sitting back and watching the dysfunctional, half-retarded school administrators do absolutely dick to confront this problem, and instead sweep it under the rug (just like they did with the helicopter massacre in '78).

I graduated in 97'. OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD I CAN COUNT TEN OF MY FRIENDS WHO ARE NOW ROTTING IN COLE'S CEMETERY BECAUSE OF HEROIN. That's not counting the many others I didn't know who have recently killed themselves with the poison.

And with a plague like heroin, comes many other problems. Derry and the surrounding communities are f'd up beyond belief, and you are doing your children a severe disservice by forcing them to live in that unbelievable hell hole.

But hey...like you said...the "great garage days" are cool. That makes it all worth it I guess.

...fking idiot. Wake up.

[dan aka wimpy]

...and be very carefull in that fire hall, IT IS HAUNTED! just ask Beano...I was born and raised a block from the helicopter crash site, I remember coming home from the beach (Ocean City trip I think) and turning up 2nd ave to go home and they were hosing down the street, we didn't know what happened 'till I got in the house...terrible tragedy and it was not 'swept under' anything as I remember, but handled very well I thought, at the time...I wasn't present but friends who were told me of some terible things they had seen and I remember them to this day...

Kevin wrote:

Upstairs in the Derry Borough building is a quasi-Fireman's Museum. Included in the exhibits are newspaper clippings on everything that happened that day. Call the fire station or the Police Department and ask them to let you in.

[ex derry]

dan aka wimpy wrote:

and it was not 'swept under' anything as I remember, but handled very well I thought, at the time.

I grew up in the region, went to Derry schools, and I never heard about it until I was around 16 or so. Most of my friends hadn't even heard about it. It happened in a church parking lot, at a church event, and the church never put up a memorial or plaque or anything. I'd call that being "swept under the rug".

Did you know that single event caused the FAA to basically re-write the rulebook for helicopter regulations?

[dan aka wimpy]

...nah, it wasn't swept under the rug, that's just the way it was handled by those involved...Derry was a great place to grow up but has gone the way of most small towns with the heroin and young people with no real direction, not that I had any real direction, but work was plentiful back then (late 70's early 80's for me)...remember the 'keggers' up on the ridge?...one weekend we had at least 28 half kegs at the rod and gun farm...and remember partys at 5 points?...climbing the high rocks? dirt bikes on the railroad and the ridge...heck, let's go way back, remember the Gem theatre? classic good times there...

[Bob Barfer]

dan aka wimpy wrote:

...nah, it wasn't swept under the rug, that's just the way it was handled by those involved.

You just disproved the point you were trying to make. But anyway, yeah it was like that for me growing up there in the 90's as well. We smoked pot, ran the ridge, climbed the fire tower, had a good ol' time. We had the Gem theater too, but it wasn't a movie theater for us. The owners turned it into an awesome little venue for local bands to play, but it only lasted a couple of years until the rotten old farts in town finally got their way and had it shut down. The Derry pigs had a field day harassing the kids who went to the shows too. Funny how now they've got a bigger problem than they could've ever imagined with the heroin.

The whole heroin thing really shocked me and I can't relate to it at all. We smoked pot and drank a little. When I was growing up, I'd "heard" of kids doing acid, but I've never actually seen it. I never in a million years would've dreamed that Derry would become a town of junkie thieves. Oh well. I don't live there anymore so fk the whole town to hell if they wanna live like that I guess.

[dan aka wimpy]

ah yes the fire tower...

[Bob Barfer]

Man, I was surrounded by so many easily bangable chicks back then, but I was too timid to ever do anything about it other than whack off in the privacy of my bedroom once I got home. Ever look back on your youth and wonder what you'd do back then if you knew what you know now?

Maybe if I wouldn't have been such a puss, I would've brought my lifetime score number into the double-digits.