40 years later: Remembering the 72 who died in New Hope plane crash

Four decades ago today, a passenger plane carrying 100 people hit nasty weather and crashed into Paulding County.

In all, 72 people died — nine of those were on the ground in an unincorporated area of the county known as New Hope.

The crash of Southern Airways Flight 242 remains one of the worst in Georgia’s history.

The regular route was from Atlanta to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a stop in Huntsville, then backtracking to Atlanta. But April 4, 1977, wasn’t regular.

One of the five sections the Southern Airways Flight 242 aircraft was broken into after the 1977 crash.

With the plane coming from Hartsfield International Airport, mission control in Memphis let the crew know at 3:58 p.m. that the plane was about to hit a thunderstorm over Rome.

The captain's response: "Here we go ... hold 'em cowboy," according to the National Transportation and Safety Board report.

Twelve minutes later, hail had caused both engines to flame out and fail.

The pilots tried an emergency landing on the Highway 92 Spur in New Hope. The DC-9’s wingspan was 93 feet, 5 inches. Unfortunately, there were two utility poles on both sides of the highway at 80 feet, 8 inches apart.

In its path — which was 1,900 feet long and 295 feet wide — the aircraft destroyed five cars, a truck, mailboxes, power lines, lawns, and it started a blaze that razed a combination grocery store-gas station.

"Nobody blames them," Cherry Waddell said last year about the pilots. "We think they're heroes because it could have been worse.

The plane broke apart into five sections.

Two flight attendants along with more than 20 passengers made it out alive. Many of them survived because they were ejected from the plane.

And then there were those killed who weren’t even on the plane.

“The wounds are still raw,” Waddell said near the 39th anniversary.

Her great-aunt, Berlie Mae Craton, was struck and killed by debris while in a yard.

A nonprofit organization — New Hope Memorial Flight 242 — was formed about a decade ago. The group has installed a marker a few hundred yards from the crash site in a cemetery along the highway.

Here are the names of those involved. Below their names, you can read the NTSB report.

(F-Fatality S-Survivor)

Flight Crew

• William Wade McKenzie, Captain-F
• Lyman Keele, Jr., First Officer-F
• Catherine Lemoine Cooper, Senior Stewardess-S
• Sandy Purl , Stewardess-S

Passengers