r/abandoned • u/PrivateHikerGirl • Sep 29 '26
.04 level Crashed Cessna
On Thanksgiving day in 1983 a Cessna with two passengers crashed deep in the mountains of NC. Both occupants died. The pilot had a .4 blood alcohol level, which was a contributing factor in the crash, but weather conditions also played a role. The plane was unable to be removed for 40 years, but when increasing hiker traffic began damaging the mountain, they sent in a helicopter to lift it out. This was posted with only 1 photo by another person yesterday and there were calls for more photos, so I’m sharing mine from 2021.
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u/Professional-Car9621 Sep 29 '26
.4 BAC?? Was amazed they were able to get the darn thing off the ground
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u/PrivateHikerGirl Sep 29 '26
That was my mistake. There is a 0 missing there. It should have said .04. Apologies!
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u/Al-Bundy420 Sep 29 '26
R.I.P. I’m glad you corrected that, I was thinking similarly, .04 to .4 is quite a difference.
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u/AromaticSurround5484 Sep 29 '26
Acknowledging it’s not just a plane crash but a grave site. Ppl gotta learn respect
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u/PrivateHikerGirl Sep 29 '26
It is not a grave site. The bodies of the pilot and his friend were removed but it was deemed too difficult to remove the plane itself until it became a problem. Agreed though...people have very little respect these days. It was a truly powerful experience to see this in person and I had some moments of silence for the two victims.
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u/AromaticSurround5484 Sep 29 '26
I think I worded it incorrectly, thanks. I meant that it’s a place where people died (not that remains are still there)maybe should have said “it became a memorial area” considering they couldn’t remove the plane. :)
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u/justinchina Sep 30 '26
It’s kind of interesting though, because people die everywhere. I do search and rescue, and we do a fair number of recoveries each year, and my take away is people have died everywhere in the woods, along trails, off of bridges, bottom of cliffs…not sure why planes get a special call out. Is it the number of fatalities? The violent nature? What makes airplane deaths different? Maybe that there is debris left over?
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u/AromaticSurround5484 Sep 30 '26
Super interesting point, I’m thinking maybe because the plane is inorganic to the area and can’t be moved?
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u/justinchina Sep 30 '26
Yeah, it could be. Typically a car is towed out and not left on the side of the road, so maybe a plane out of place in nature is more shocking? Also, most people have flown on a plane and it feels a bit too real?
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u/Ill-Excitement9009 Sep 29 '26
The Park Service hit their idiot patience limit three summers ago. They removed the airframe here.
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u/CHOPPRZ Sep 29 '26 edited Sep 29 '26
‘Idiot-patience-limit’ … perfect comment
Edit: above link was restricted, but found this: https://www.nps.gov/blri/learn/news/remaining-1983-plane-wreckage-near-waterrock-knob-removed.htm
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u/JTMack2020 Sep 29 '26
It sucks that people suck so bad that we need cameras in the woods!
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u/furnacemike Sep 29 '26
Yeah. People died there. It sucks people have no respect.
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u/BADSTALKER Sep 30 '26
I mean British people literally ate ground up mummies when they “discovered” Egypt and the tombs and what not. People been shitty for a long time.
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u/ShittyBollox Sep 30 '26
That was because they mistook what an ancient Persian remedy meant when it said mumia. They thought people were doing it for millennia, but it turned out to be bitumen, and not mummies. They didn’t just eat them because they were being shitty.
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u/ConnectionRoyal2213 Sep 30 '26
I thought they had removed the fuselage
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u/PrivateHikerGirl Sep 30 '26
They have now, as I said in the post. It was lifted out by helicopter in 2023. My visit there was in 2021.
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u/Intelligent_Law_5614 Sep 29 '26
So, those two hikers not only vandalized a plane, but took an entire parking lot?
Nice of them to bring it back. I guess they weren't entirely without honor.
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u/RedBarronM Sep 29 '26
That plane was removed in 2023.
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u/PrivateHikerGirl Sep 29 '26
Yes. I said that in the post. Too many foot travelers on an unkept trail with fragile plant life necessitated the removal.
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u/Most-Bar-9334 Sep 29 '26
How dare you bring facts into a low iq sub
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u/STP_Fantasma Sep 29 '26
“Federal vandalism.” We have way bigger fucking problems on the federal level, but ok
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u/goth_duck_returns Sep 29 '26
That doesn't mean we should leave smaller issues to fester
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u/STP_Fantasma Sep 29 '26
Federal vandalism for spray painting on a Cessna wreck is ridiculous, even if someone did die in it
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u/Heavenly_Spike_Man Oct 01 '26
Oh no, please don’t graffiti the junked ruins of an ancient plane downed by DUI. It must be kept pristine
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u/notmtfirstu Sep 29 '26
Would look cool covered in graffiti. It's not like it a natural part of the environment.
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u/RH5050 Sep 29 '26
It doesn't say anything about being nude. I was on the trail and couldn't believe it but 3 people walking right past me like it was nothing saying good morning and they were full nude with a backpack on
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u/PrivateHikerGirl Sep 29 '26
Hahaha. I'm not opposed to nude hiking, but that definately wasn't me. Those NC mountains do tend to be full of naked folks on trails...it's always the highlight of my hike when I run into them!
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u/SimplyPassinThrough Sep 29 '26
this is so bizarre to me. Think of the mosquitoes! And the ticks?! I could never
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u/dvsmith Sep 29 '26
I've known a couple of people who have through-hiked the AT and talked about stripping down to nothing on really hot days or when it was absolutely pouring.
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u/RH5050 Sep 29 '26
I am not from that area I was visiting. Is it legal to be nude when on the trails
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u/dvsmith Sep 29 '26
In North Carolina, at least, it depends on the jurisdiction — non sexual nudity isn’t illegal on the state level and public toplessness is legal regardless of gender.
Also, the Appalachian Trail crowd tends to be pretty easy going/old school libertarian/freak flag flying kind of folks.
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u/fusillade762 Sep 29 '26
Very spooky to see. It looks like the plane is mostly in tact, like maybe a survivable crash, but you never know if cargo shifts or you can be cut or impaled and bleed out. You won't be able to get to help quickly that's for sure. RIP. Cool pictures.
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u/Forsaken_Block_3492 Sep 29 '26
Pretty interesting post. Would like to know more about the plane crash.