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Our prayers are with the Leslie family and the other victims of the Charlotte accident.-- CAPT. KATIE LESLIE, 25, had been a commercial pilot for three years. She graduated in 1999 from Louisiana Tech University with a bachelor of science degree in professional aviation, and after graduation worked as an instructor at the school for nine months. Her younger brother, Bradley Leslie, is a freshman in Louisiana Tech's aviation program.
Tech aviation graduate dies in N.C. plane crash
Posted on January 9, 2003
GREENVILLE, S.C. - A Louisiana Tech University graduate was at the controls of a commuter plane that crashed moments after leaving the runway Tuesday morning in Charlotte, N.C. and was among the 21 fatalities, authorities said.
Capt. Katie Leslie, 25, had been a commercial pilot for three years.
She graduated in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in professional aviation and worked as an instructor at the school for nine months after graduation.
Her younger brother, Bradley Leslie, is a freshman in Louisiana Tech's aviation program.
Bound for Greenville, S.C., U.S. Airways Express Flight 5481, a twin-engine turbo prop, veered into a hangar shortly before 9 a.m. at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, killing everyone on board. Most passengers were believed to be business travelers making connections from places other than Charlotte, about 100 miles northeast of Greenville. The passenger list has not been released.
An intense fire raged as medics and firefighters raced to the scene.
"It became apparent very quickly that we weren't needed for life saving," said Eric Morrison, a spokesman for Mecklenburg Emergency Medical Services.
The scene at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport was a mixture of bewilderment and sadness.
A woman in a U.S. Airways Express uniform wept. Security guards whisked about a dozen people to a private room before they left the airport by bus.
Few people were waiting for the plane to arrive because it was primarily a business flight, but more were ex-pected to show up throughout the day, said Rosylin Weston, a Greenville airport spokeswoman. Family mem-bers were talking with Red Cross and mental health workers.
"The airplane took off but was unable to maintain altitude," said Jerry Orr, Charlotte's director of airport op-erations. "It came down and clipped the corner of the U.S. Airways hangar building."
It didn't break open, but it was engulfed in flames, he said. Firefighters arrived within two minutes.
FBI agent Chris Swecker said his agency has no indication of a terrorist incident and plans to interview 100 witnesses in the next few days.
The pilots declared an emergency before the plane crashed, said John Goglia, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane was a Raytheon Beech 1900D, a type of plane that has been in 18 accidents since 1987, according to the Aviation Safety Network. The plane has had 13 fatal crashes since 1979.
Since 1982, commuter jets have been in 61 accidents, 44 involving large airlines, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Determining the cause of the crash could take 18 months to two years, said Lauren Peduzzi, a spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board. All planes are equipped with voice and flight data recorders.
The plane was scheduled to depart from Charlotte at 8:30 a.m. EST and arrive at Greenville at 9:15 a.m., FAA spokesman Christopher White said.
Air Midwest, based in Wichita, Kan., is a regional carrier that does business as U.S. Airways Express, pro-viding connecting flights between major hubs and smaller cities under contract with U.S. Airways. It's a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, a publicly traded company based in Phoenix.
Mesa Air is putting together a passenger list and will release it when families have been notified, said Jona-than Ornstein, chairman and chief executive officer.
Brad Leslie is my son's little brother in their fraternity. He spent the weekend at my house for the SMU football game. A fine young man. The family lives the the Dallas area. It has got to be tough for the family and extended Tech professional aviation family.
Sounds as if those planes don't have a very good track record.
Our prayers for her family and the others as well.
Tech shares memories of pilot
Leslie was likable, happy
Posted on January 10, 2003
RUSTON - The photograph in the 1999 Louisiana Tech University annual shows a dozen students clustered in a typical yearbook fashion. Some wore caps, a couple had their hands in their pockets, one sported dark glasses.
It was the year the university's precision flight team swept the Safecon Region IV competition, winning first overall. It was the year team member Katie Irene Leslie, from Arlington, Texas, graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in professional aviation.
Leslie died Wednesday at age 25 when the U.S. Airways Express twin-engine turbo-prop commuter plane she was piloting crashed into a hangar at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in North Carolina shortly after takeoff, killing all 19 passengers and two crew members aboard.
It was unknown Thursday whether Leslie or the first officer on board was actually flying the plane at the time of the crash.
People here who knew Leslie remembered her Thursday as a lively young woman who persevered in her studies and had many friends. Plans for any memorial services or other recognition were uncertain Thursday, though a spokeswoman for Leslie's sorority, Sigma Kappa, said the chapter would remember her during an upcoming meeting.
"Katie had the brightest smile, the happiest disposition that you could know," said Patricia Flournoy, Sigma Kappa's local advisory board chairman. "She was just a great girl."
Leslie worked as a flight instructor at Tech for about nine months after her graduation in the spring of 1999. Dale Sistrunk, head of Tech's professional aviation department, said Leslie was a good instructor.
"She was a very likeable young lady, easygoing. All the instructors and students liked her very much," Sistrunk said. He said she'd earned her captain's rank last year.
Tech President Dan Reneau called the crash "a terrible tragedy."
"My heart certainly goes out to her family and all involved," he said.
Leslie left Tech to take a job with the Phoenix, Ariz.-based Mesa Air Group, the company she worked for at the time of her death. She had been a commercial pilot for about three years. Company spokesman Brian Gillman would not release further information citing what he said are the wishes of the victims' families.
He did say Leslie was based out of Charlotte. U.S. Airways Express contracts with Mesa for commuter service.
Nicholas Green, line service manager at Ruston Regional Airport, knew Leslie for "three or four years."
"She was a fun person to be around," he said.
Leslie did one of the final stage checks for Green's instrument rating.
"She's a good pilot," he said. "She's very thorough with it. You want that."
Green said he feels certain Leslie did all she could to prevent Wednesday's crash.
Leslie's brother, Bradley Leslie, is a freshman at Louisiana Tech studying professional aviation.
Wow...I knew Katie when I was a student at Tech.
Life is just too uncertain, and too short.
May God bless her family and the families of all those involved.
'A professional to the end'
Service remembers life of Tech graduate
Nancy Bergeron / Ruston Bureau
Posted on January 15, 2003
Michael Dunlap / Assistant Chief Photographer
Louisiana Tech University aviation professor Jerry Douglas, right, makes a presentation to Marcy and Keith Leslie Tuesday in remembrance of their daughter Katie, who was killed in a plane crash.
RUSTON - Friends, teachers and former students remembered U.S. Airways Express commuter pilot Capt. Katie Leslie on Tuesday as a lover of life who was "professional to the end."
Leslie, a 1999 Louisiana Tech University professional aviation honor graduate, died Jan. 8 when the plane she was piloting crashed into a hangar at North Carolina's Charlotte-Douglas International Airport shortly after takeoff, killing the 19 passengers and two crew members aboard.
"Katie's gone, but while she was here she affected a lot of people," Tech aviation department head Dale Sistrunk told about 125 people gathered for a memorial service at Ruston's St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. "Katie was professional to the end."
Authorities suspect malfunctioning tail equipment caused the crash.
It was Leslie, 25, who reported the emergency that apparently caused the plane to crash 37 seconds after takeoff.
Leslie's parents, Keith and Marcy Leslie of Arlington, Texas, listened from the front pew as Sistrunk and others shared memories of their daughter's life.
"The way she was is a reflection of the way you are," professional aviation associate professor Jerry Douglas told the Leslies. "You should be commended as parents. ... Thank you for being the parents that your are, even now."
A tearful Keith Leslie told the congregation that Tech was the last of six schools Katie Leslie visited as she looked for a professional aviation program to enter.
"We all agreed when we left, this was the place for Katie," he said. "We're so thankful she went here."
The speakers recalled Katie Leslie as a tireless worker, who had lots of friends, enjoyed having fun and she was always smiling.
"What I'll always remember was her love of life and her taking care of her business," Tech sociology professor Gary Stokley said. "She truly packed a lot of life in her years."
After graduating from Tech, Leslie remained at the university for about nine months as a flight instructor.
"She was the best flight instructor you can imagine," said Ellis Brown of New Orleans, one of Leslie's former students.
"She was an excellent pilot," said Michael Batterton of Ruston, now a flight instructor with Louisiana Aircraft.
A large white wooden cutout of a Cessna 152, the plane Leslie started training on at Tech, leaned against the sanctuary's altar. Friends said Leslie made the cutout in 1998 when she commanded Tech's flight team.
Her flight team cap, along with photographs, jacket patches and two small model airplanes - one silver and one gold - were displayed with other memorabilia on a table in the church's foyer.
"I think we were all blessed in having known Katie," professional aviation assistant professor Sevin Dugas said.
Leslie left Tech to take a job with the Phoenix, Ariz.-based Mesa Air Group, the company she worked for at the time of her death. She had been a commercial pilot for about three years.
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