Small plane goes down in remote spot in South County
By Danielle Smith Staff Writer
Hollister – Authorities discovered a small plane in South County Sunday that had crashed, killing an administrator from a private college in Texas.
According to the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department, Billy Dean Hardage, 61, took off from the Watsonville Airport about 9am Saturday. The crash probably occurred just before 5pm, when the Civil Air Patrol received a transponder signal from the downed plane.
The Sheriff’s department was notified of the crash at 6:30am Sunday. Three officers were flown into the site, about four miles east of the Bear Valley California Department of Forestry and Fire station, in a CHP helicopter, according to Sgt. Mike Rodrigues of the county sheriff’s department. The site of the crash, east of the 25000 block of Airline Highway, was too rocky and steep for automobile access.
“The plane didn’t seem to be damaged too badly, considering,” said Rodrigues. “But it was pretty rugged out there.”
An autopsy is under way at the San Benito County morgue. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating to determine the cause of the crash. Weather difficulties and low-level maneuvering are the leading cause of fatality accidents among small-plane pilots, according the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Hardage served as Executive Vice President at Wayland Baptist University, which he attended as a youth and where he worked for 40 years.
According to the university, Hardage was in Watsonville to pick up a new Air Coupe plane. He was flying it back to Wayland in Plainview, Texas when the crash occurred.
“Doctor Hardage gave 40 years of his life to Wayland, and was involved in every aspect of the life and ministry of the school,” said Wayland President Paul Armes Monday. “He leaves a gap that no one else can fill.”
Hardage leaves a wife and two grown children, who were notified of his death Sunday.
