Published Monday, July 5, 1999 Keith Brannon, 19, of 402 Meek St., and his friend, identified as Joe Kell of 389 Brooklyn St., were killed when the ultralight in which they were flying slammed into the water at about 8:10 p.m. near the Route 18 causeway. Mercer County assistant Deputy Coroner Scott A. Black pronounced them dead at 9:12 p.m. on the shore at the Route 18 Access Area.
The aircraft, which resembles a motorized glider, took off from a privately owned airstrip at Route 82 and Obermiyer Road in Brookfield, said Jefferson-Clark Regional Police Chief Jeff Lockhart.
Friends of the men said the ultralight and the airstrip are owned by Trumbull County Eastern District Court Judge Ronald J. Rice. They also said Kell built the craft with Rice. Attempts to reach Rice this morning were unsuccessful.
Rescue crews were close by because the lake was crowded with people celebrating the Fourth of July and waiting for the annual fireworks sponsored by Winner International at Tara in Clark, Lockhart said. When rescuers arrived, boaters were attempting to get the men out of the water, he said.
The men were still in the craft when it was brought to shore, Lockhart said.
Lockhart said today he is waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration to take over the investigation. The ultralight remained at the access area overnight and the area was secured by members of Transfer Volunteer Fire Department.
State police, Pymatuning Township police, Clark firefighters, members of the Fish and Boat Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers assisted.
Allen Martin, a volunteer for the corps who reported the craft down, said the craft was flying close to the water, "buzzing" the boats and the men were performing stunts. Other callers to The Herald this morning echoed that comment.
"They were so close that if you had jumped off one of the boats, you probably could've touched them," Martin said, adding that boaters had been complaining.
Martin said the aircraft had just come off of the water and turned left when it suddenly headed straight down.
"It looked like they had some kind of mechanical problem," he said, adding that the breeze off the lake may have contributed to the crash.
Another witness said the plane had just completed a barrell roll -- or upside down loop -- and was heading straight up when it suddenly took a nose dive into the water.
More than 200 interviews need to be conducted during the next few days to determine what caused the crash, Lockhart said.
Some of the men's friends gathered at the Shenango Recreation Area waiting for news, although they already seemed to know what police weren't saying until the men's families were notified.
Brannon loved to live on the edge, said Ray Daye, who shared a house with Brannon. Daye said Brannon was just starting to have a passion for ultralights and had only flown in one a couple of times. The other man was an experienced flier, Daye said.
"He (Brannon) was talking about selling his low rider to get a plane," the 20-year-old said, burying his head in his hands. "They were just kids. We're all kids."
Kell builds ultralights and the pair were excited that the craft was finished, Daye said.
"They were all pumped up that it was finished," he said, adding that Kell was talking about how fast the craft was and that it had instruments.
Daye said Kell built the crafts and many of the parts he used were from Ivor J. Lee II.
Lee died in April 1997 in an ultralight crash in Winter Haven, Fla. His lifelong friend, Donald E. Blank of Jefferson Township, died the year before in an ultralight crash.
Lee, who was the president of Ivor J. Lee Manufacturing Co., Masury, built and sold ultralight kits and parts through Lakeland Ultralight Inc. Kell worked for Lee's company, Daye said, adding that he was given the parts when Lee died.
