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Florida couple killed in plane crash on Tilley Creek
By Derek Hodges
A Florida couple was killed Thursday (Dec. 29) when the private plane they were traveling in crashed on a mountain near Tilley Creek.
According to Capt. Steve Lillard of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the plane took off from the Jackson County Airport late Thursday morning. Officials believe Tommy and Veronica Marshall of Pensacola, Fla., died when their four-seat Cirrus SR22 went down on Savannah Ridge near the Jackson/Macon county line.
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Fallen tree limbs partially obscure the site of a plane crash on Savannah Ridge near the Jackson/Macon county line. The plane, registered to Tommy and Veronica Marshall of Pensacola, Fla., went down in heavy fog on Thursday (Dec. 29). According to Capt. Steve Lillard of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the plane took off from the Jackson County Airport late Thursday morning. The couple, who also own a house in Maggie Valley, were killed when their four-seat Cirrus SR22 went down in the heavily-wooded area between Tilley Creek and Pumpkintown, Lillard said. The plane burned for a short time after the crash, as evidenced by a charred piece on the left in this photo supplied by the Sheriff’s Office.
Shortly after noon on Dec. 29 a Tilley Creek resident told 911 dispatchers he heard a plane fly low over his home, then heard a crash on a nearby mountain. Jackson County Emergency Management officials responded to the call immediately, beginning a search that ended Friday morning.
 “We gave up when it got too dark on Thursday, then picked the search back up this morning,” Emergency Management Director Mike Ensley said on Friday (Dec. 30). “The Civil Air Patrol brought a plane in from Asheville and located the wreck site this morning. Then our folks went out to the site when it was found.”
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, as well as rescue squads from Jackson and Macon counties, joined the search around 4 p.m. Thursday.
Ron Gamble, a pilot who does volunteer maintenance at the Jackson County Airport and was friends with the couple, said poor visibility may have played a part in the accident.
“It was really overcast at the airport that day. You could take off, but you’d get lost in the clouds once you got up there,” said Gamble, who has a clear view of the runway from his home.
Veronica Marshall was wary of flying in such conditions, Gamble said.
“I knew his wife very well and she would not fly in that weather. I’m very surprised she got in the plane with him,” Gamble said.
The couple, who owns a house in Maggie Valley, may have been returning to Florida on a tight schedule, Gamble said.
“Their neighbors said they came up to winterize the house and had to get home for some type of appointment,” Gamble said. “Usually they would call before they left and we didn’t hear form them this time, so that makes me think they left in a hurry.”
The plane crashed near the top of a peak in the ridge.
“A little to the left or right, or a little higher and they would have been fine,” Ensley said.
Marshall, who owned Energy Systems Air Conditioning Co. in Pensacola, should have been able to fly, even under the foggy conditions, Gamble said.
“He had owned another plane before this one and he was trained to fly by his instruments,” Gamble said. “He’s flown into and out of this airport many times, so he was familiar with the rising terrain around the airport.”
To bring a plane down in such a situation would take a mechanical failure, which Gamble said is highly unlikely, or a pilot error. Veronica Marshall may have become too uncomfortable flying under those conditions, and asked her husband to turn around, Gamble said.
“I truthfully think they were turning around or circling to land,” Gamble said. “The way they crashed makes me think they were on their way back to the airport. They crashed on the west side of the mountain, and it would be pretty hard to do that if they weren’t turning around. The witnesses also described hearing noises that make me think they may have been coming down.”
While autopsy results are not expected for some time, Lillard said it is likely the couple died on impact or shortly after.
A fire started by the crash would have produced toxic fumes, since the plane was made of composite materials. That blaze would have also burned hot and for a long time, since the Marshalls had just purchased a full tank of gasoline on Dec. 26, Gamble said.
The flames did not spread to the surrounding forest, thanks to recent wet conditions, which left a layer of ice on tree limbs near the crash site on Friday morning.
The death of the couple came as sad news to Gamble.
“They were the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. They were really warm and friendly and talked to everyone. They were the kind of people you like to have around,” Gamble said.
Officials with the National Transporation Safety Board’s Atlanta Office are conducting an investigation into the crash. The results of that work are not expected for several months.
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