Florida man dies in Cordele small airplane crash

CORDELE — A pilot is dead and his wife, who was his passenger, in critically injured after a small airplane crashed shortly after takeoff from a refueling stop Thursday at the Crisp County-Cordele Airport.

According to Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock, the two-seater Aeronca Champ aircraft, owned and piloted by Rene St. Julien, 61, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., was part of a four-plane group on its way to the Wings Over North Georgia air show in Rome. Hancock said the planes had stopped to refuel on their way from the Port St. Lucie area.

Around 12:35 p.m., all four planes took off. When the Champ reached an altitude of 250-300 feet, it suddenly nosedived to the runway, killing St. Julien and injuring his wife and passenger, Jan St. Julien, Hancock said.

Responders from the Cordele and Crisp County fire departments and EMS worked to extricate Jan St. Julien from the wreckage, Hancock said, who was then airlifted to the Macon Medical Center for treatment. Officials said on Thursday her condition was critical.

“The Sheriff’s office took some of the other pilots to Macon so they could be close to her,” Hancock said. “Others are spending the night in Cordele.”

Hancock said representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration were at the crash scene Thursday afternoon and plan to meet with members of National Transportation Safety Board on Friday to begin an investigation of the crash.