One year later, 'U' community still feels pain of Comair crash

Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the crash of Comair flight 3272, in which all 29 people on board were killed, including LSA senior Arati Sharangpani and Associate Rackham Dean Betty Jean Jones.

"When you drive by there, you think about (the crash) all the time," said Grape, Mich., resident Gary Helser. Helser witnessed the plane crash from his kitchen window. "I saw a ball of fire and smoke," he said.

Jones and Sharangpani remain in the memories of family and friends. Silas Jones, the father of Betty Jean Jones said he thinks about his daughter all the time.

Sharangpani

"I forgot it for a long time," Silas Jones said. "Life goes on and I have to live."

Jones, who lives in Albany, Ga., said his daughter's death was unnecessary. "I really think it could've been avoided," he said.

The commuter plane was traveling from Cincinnati to Detroit when it lost control due to a combination of low altitude, air speed and weather conditions. The plane crashed into a field in Monroe County.

Sharangpani was a resident adviser in Mary Markley residence hall. Stacey Waxtan, an Engineering sophomore, was living in Sharangpani's hall at the time of the plane crash.

"I tried to grieve as quickly as possible last year," Waxtan said. "Now ... it really comes back to me strongly."

Waxtan said those who knew Sharangpani will not forget her.

"It will stick with me," Waxtan said. "I'm sure those who had special relationships with Artie think of it now and then."

Diganta Saha, a friend of Sharangpani, said the death changed how he behaves toward friends when saying good-bye.

"Especially when you see your friends and won't see them for awhile, you wish them a safe journey," said Saha, a '97 University graduate. "I do that all the time now."

Waxtan said Sharangpani's sudden death affected her in a similar way.

"Before I went away on vacation, I saw all the people I see every day, and I made sure I wished them well," Waxtan said. "If there's a compliment I want to give someone, I make sure I tell them right that minute.

"There's never a better time to share feelings with someone."

Residents of the nearby town of Grape, not more than 200 yards from the sight of the plane crash, still listen to planes pass overhead each day.

"We're right over the airport traffic way - you always worry something will happen especially when they come in so low," Helser said. The planes "come over us all the time. You can hear them come over."

Helser said no one in the area has moved because of the air traffic.

"We wouldn't give up our homestead for that," Helser said.

Don Biccum, also a Grape resident, said the air traffic is not a concern.

"I think the planes are safe for the number of miles they fly," Biccum said. "The accident rate is pretty low."

01-12-98