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Jet Hydroplanes During Macon Landing

Celeste Smith

A corporate jet, landing during a storm producing torrential rain Tuesday morning, hydroplaned on the runway at Herbert Smart Airport in downtown Macon, ending up in a nearby wooded area.

Lieutenant Sean DeFoe with the Bibb County Sheriff's Office tells WGXA the jet was a Beech 400 owned by Dewberry Air Corporation out of Atlanta. DeFoe says the jet hydroplaned on the runway, went over an embankment, crossed Ocmulgee East Boulevard and stopped about 30 yards into a wooded area.


The jet was carrying three people. The pilot, Brian Landers, co-pilot Joel Perkins and the passenger and owner of the jet, John Dewberry, were all onboard. According to representatives from the airport, the three men were flying into Macon on a business trip.

Landers had to be extricated by firefighters. Perkins and Dewberry were able to free themselves from the wrecked jet. Perkins was transported to the Medical Center of Central Georgia for treatment of minor injuries. Dewberry and Landers escaped unharmed.

Ocmulgee East Blvd was closed at its intersections with Hubbard Road to Herbert Smart Airport Road. The roadway temporarily reopened, but will close again when cleanup efforts begin.

Officials arrived from the F.A.A. are on the scene, investigating the wreck site.
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