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An article in the February 7, 1962, issue of the Troy Messenger recounts the story of a plane crash that narrowly missed the home of J. B. Starling.

A crew of five escaped injury when its Air Force C-47 plane crash-landed on the outskirts of Troy about 11 o’clock last night.

The twin-engine plane crashed into an open field about 600 yards off Highway 29, narrowly missing the home of J. B. Starling, where three people were sleeping.

It was reported that the plane developed engine trouble as it was enroute from Andrews AFB, Md., to Brookley AFB at Mobile. Highway Patrolman J. P. Long said he was told that the plane crashed as its crew was attempting to bring it back to the Troy Municipal Airport.

     One of the fliers bailed out.  He was picked up near the Charles Henderson High School.  The other four crewmen rode the ailing plane to the ground.

The plane clipped a utility wire and then came to a wheel-up landing a short distance from the Starling home.  The fallen utility wire started a small grass fire.

The plane touched ground about 100 feet from the Starling home and skidded some 300 yards, resulting in heavy damage to the underside of the plane.  The engines appeared to be badly damaged, and one wing tip was torn off.

Mrs. Starling said she was awakened when the plane hit the utility cable.  “The Lord was with us last night,” she said this morning.

Patrolman Long said the plane’s pilot told him he saw the house moments before he would have crashed into it and managed to turn the plane to avoid hitting it.

A helicopter from nearby Ft. Rucker took the fliers from the crash scene to a hospital at Maxwell AFB, Montgomery. The crewmen were checked for injuries and released.

A small crowd of Trojans streamed out to the crash scene.  The Pike County Citizens Band Radio Club assisted law enforcement officers in controlling the crowd until air policemen from Maxwell arrived.

Radio club members also assisted the helicopter pilot in landing his craft by lighting a landing area with car lights and red blinker lights.

The crewmen were identified as Maj. Truman Hermansen, the pilot; Capt. George M. Walker, Capt. Edward N. Erickson, S. Sgt. Peter D. Berger, Jr., and Airman 1. C. Robert E. Cathey, all attached to Langley AFB, Va.  Their hometowns were not immediately available.

All of these articles can be found in previous editions of The Troy Messenger.  Stay tuned for more.  Dianne Smith is the President of the Pike County Historical, Genealogical, and Preservation Society.