Latest news with #FowlPlains
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
7 Hunting Buddies Died in the American Airlines Plane Crash. They Were Returning from a Duck Hunt
Seven hunting buddies were on American Airlines flight 5342 traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington D.C. when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River on Wednesday. Sixty-seven people died in the collision, including all plane passengers and crew from both aircraft. The seven hunters who were aboard flight 5342 were returning from a waterfowl hunt with Fowl Plains outfitters, which is based in Great Bend, Kansas. The men lived in the D.C. area and had been hunting in a group of 10 buddies. Three of the crew had chosen to drive the 1,300-plus miles home with their duck dogs and shotguns, according to the Wichita Eagle. 'We've always said our clients are more than friends. They're family. Last night we lost [seven] family members in the horrific plane crash,' reads a statement posted Thursday to Fowl Plains' Facebook page. '[Seven] family members we've had the privilege to hunt with the last few years. We've spent this past week, sharing the blind, laughing, talking about our families, and sharing memories. We are completely heartbroken. Please pray for the families, friends and for our [three] other hunters in the group who were driving home. Heartbroken is an understatement.' The seven men who died are Jonathan 'Jon' Boyd, 40; Tommy Clagett, 38; Alexander 'Alex' Huffman, 34; Steve Johnson, 45; Charles 'Charlie' McDaniel, 44; Jesse Pitcher, 30; and Michael 'Mikey' Stovall, 40. Many of them were fathers. Some men had been repeat clients of Fowl Plains, and this year's trip included duck and goose hunting, plus a pen-raised pheasant shoot, according to the Eagle. Fowl Plains shared hunting photos of the men, including one of Stovall with a stud bull pintail and nine men standing behind a log piled with snow geese, specks, and Canadas. It's not immediately clear if the photos were from this week or past seasons. Kansas' duck season ended Sunday, but goose seasons remain open. Fowl Plains owner Chase White told the newspaper that at least they had been 'able to do something for the last five or six days that they all loved together.' When Outdoor Life reached White by phone Friday, he declined to provide additional comment out of respect for the men's families. Many of the men had been friends since childhood, and four were members of the UA Steamfitters Local 602, a union that represents heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, and piping tradesmen. Johnson was both a member of the 602 and a regular participant in the White Marlin Open, one of the biggest billfishing tournaments in the country. In August two of the anglers aboard Johnson's boat, the Ctrl+Alt+Del, won a daily prize in the Open for two tuna that weighed in at 178.5 and 154.5 pounds. Capt. Johnson and his team ultimately won a check for $75,850. Read Next: After Record Levels of Cancer-Causing Chemicals Were Found in a New Mexico Lake, Hunters Are Urged to Contact Their Doctors Local chapters of Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, NWTF, and other groups, including Maryland-based Benelli USA, have organized or donated to a separate GoFundMe page for the hunters' families. A verified GoFundMe page has been set up to support some families of crash victims, including a dedicated fund for Stovall, who is survived by his wife and son. 'There was seven wonderful guys there,' Stovall's mother, Christina Stovall, told WINK News. 'Mikey did not have one enemy … he was the life of the party. He loved everybody.'
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Yahoo
Seven friends' Kansas waterfowl hunting trip ends in tragedy with DC plane crash
A group of seven friends from the D.C. area who traveled to Kansas to hunt waterfowl died in Wednesday's crash of Flight 5342, according to multiple family members and an outfitter who spent several days with them. The seven hunters had come to Kansas in a party of 10 to hunt with outfitter Fowl Plains, based out of Great Bend. Three from the group opted to drive home because it made it easier to transport their hunting dogs and shotguns. The seven who died in the plane crash are Jesse Pitcher, 30; Michael Stovall, 40; Steve Johnson, 45; Alexander Huffman, 34; Charles McDaniel, 44; Jonathan Boyd, 40 and Tommy Clagget, 38. Photos from the hunting trip show they were highly successful, bagging a highly sought-after drake northern pintail and dozens of snow geese, white-front geese and Canada geese. After the multi-day hunt, seven of the men boarded a flight bound for Washington, D.C. that collided with a military helicopter as the plane approached the Ronald Reagan National Airport. All 67 people in the two aircraft were killed in the crash, although not all of the bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River. Four of the seven who were killed in the crash were members of the UA Steamfitters Local 602 labor union in Maryland and several others knew each other through their work as tradesmen. Chase White, an owner of Fowl Plains, the outfitter in Great Bend that hosted the men, said he and the men all shared meals together and conversations about all topics of life. He said some of the men had come in past years. This year's trip included three days of duck hunting, some goose hunting and a 'European' pheasant hunt, where birds are released for shooters who are waiting in blinds. 'For them to be able to do something for the last five or six days that they all loved together,' he said, 'you know, I think that is something really special for sure.' Amy Renee Leiker of The Wichita Eagle contributed.
