WAYNE COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Investigators hope to learn more about what caused a deadly plane crash in Wayne County on Thursday.Dr. Howard Wasdin died when his plane crashed near the airport. Federal investigators must now try to piece together what could have caused a seasoned pilot like Wasdin to crash at an airport that he’d landed at and taken off from so often.
Crews from the FAA, National Transportation Safety Board and others combed the crash site, roughly 1,200 feet short of the runway of Jesup’s airport.Wasdin was a longtime chiropractor and highly decorated Navy SEAL who flew back and forth from his home in Fernandina, Fla. to his office in Jesup. Investigators say fog was heavy Thursday morning as Wasdin approached the runway.
Dr. Wasdin’s chiropractic office was, of course, closed on Friday. But those across Jesup are remembering not only a health care provider, but also a local military hero and friend to the community.Flowers and a note sat at the front door. Many here now mourn the man they say was larger than life -even bigger than his billboards. Former mayor David Earl Keith says Wasdin’s fame made Jesup famous.The community thought he was ‘our’ hero. People would say ‘oh yeah, you live where that guy from Seal Team was from,’” Keith said.
Wasdin served on the elite Navy SEALs team as a sniper. Lifelong friend and former Congressman Lindsay Thomas called him an American Hero.“Of course he was in the Battle of Mogadishu. He wrote in his book about the week when Osama bin Laden was taken. That made a national best seller,” Thomas said.The memoir “Seal Team Six” had Wasdin speaking all over the nation. Keith said the fame never changed the hero as a one-time neighbor and friend to all.
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