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Weekend Edition - APRIL 14-15,2023 | $2.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
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NTSB releases details on gyrocopter crash
Pilot met with mechanic weeks before incident; craft struck powerlines before deadly landing
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A 75-year-old gyrocopter pilot
had met with a mechanic to
check if his self-built aircraft was
in good-working condition weeks
before he fatally crashed in
Gainesville, according to a report.
The National Transportation
Safety Board released a report
earlier this week on the crash
involving Larry Franklin Preiss,
of Gainesville.
The gyrocopter crashed around
1:50 p.m. March 25 in the 4700
block of Clarks Bridge Road.
The report cites Preiss’ wife,
who said her husband wanted
to fly early due to the winds
expected later that day.
“She said that he had just
recently decided to start flying
again and put together the gyro
plane himself but had met with
a mechanic, ‘in the last couple of
weeks to make sure the aircraft
was in good working condition,’”
according to the NTSB report.
Preiss’ wife said her husband
would depart from Lee Gilmer
Memorial Airport in Gainesville,
land in Cornelia and fly back.
A witness told investigators
about hearing a loud crash at
their neighbor’s home, as the
gyrocopter had landed in the cow
pasture.
Preiss’ aircraft was cruising
at an altitude of 2,000 feet and
made a series of turns around the
Gainesville area.
“The gyroplane collided with a
powerline and came to rest about
100 yards from the powerline,”
according to the report. “The
powerline, which was located on
private property, extended across
the gyroplane’s presumed flight-
path and was at a height of about
50 (feet) above the ground.”
The main rotor mast was bro
ken away from the fuselage, and
a 20-foot piece of the powerline
was entangled in the rotor head.
‘He definitely didn’t mean any harm’
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Bethesda Fellowship Church Pastor John Graham, along with church members, recently helped calm Michael Lee Walker in the
church parking lot after a brief scuffle with a Habersham County deputy. Walker was charged with obstruction, DUI and reckless
driving and is being held in Habersham jail.
Pastor recounts police chase ending in front of his church on Easter
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
It’s not clear why 45-year-old Michael
Walker of Lula was so desperate to get
inside the church on Easter. Whatever
the reason, it landed him in jail.
On Sunday, Walker was involved in
a chase with a deputy from the Haber
sham County Sheriff’s Office and later
arrested at a Pentecostal church in Cor
nelia. He has been charged with felony
obstruction, driving under the influence,
two counts of failure to signal a lane
change, improper passing, driving on
the wrong side of the road, reckless driv
ing and fleeing and attempting to elude a
law enforcement officer.
As of Thursday afternoon, he
remained in Haber
sham County jail with
a $11,010 bond. The
Times was unable to
reach Walker, and
there was no infor
mation on file at the
Habersham Clerk of
Court. An employee
told The Times that
it usually takes them
about a week to upload information to
the system.
At 1 p.m. April 9, a deputy with the
Habersham County Sheriff’s Office tried
to stop Walker while driving on Ga. 365,
according to an incident report. Walker
was driving “well over” 80 mph, weaving
in and out of traffic and nearly hit a car.
The deputy flipped on his lights and
siren and began pursuing. The chase
lasted about two miles, said Habersham
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Rob Moore.
After catching up to Walker at Duncan
Bridge Road, the deputy saw him “enter
oncoming traffic to pass a stopped vehi
cle, causing southbound traffic to slam
on their brakes,” according to the inci
dent report.
Walker later pulled into the parking
lot of Bethesda Fellowship, a Pentecos
tal church where Walker is an infre
quent attendee, though he is well known
to some of its parishioners, especially to
its lead pastor of 14 years, John Graham.
“Our service had ended,” Graham
■ Please see CHASE, 4A
Investigation
triggered by
mishandling
of asbestos
BY BRIAN WELLMEIER
bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com
Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division
opened an investigation into complaints against
Southern Environmental Services Wednesday
after accusations the demolition and reme
diation company mishandled asbestos-ridden
homes on Carter Alley in Lula.
Lula’s City Council recently approved
$109,000 to the company to demolish four homes
on Carter Alley for additional parking space and
future expansion of the downtown area.
Asbestos, a carcinogenic mineral that can
cause lung cancer and other respiratory dis
eases when inhaled, had been identified in at
■ Please see ASBESTOS, 4A
Office park
may take place
of old church
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvllletlmes.com
A former South Hall church could be trans
formed into an office park with walkways and
water features.
Maroun Aoun,
of Hoschton,
is proposing
to turn prop
erty at 4240
Winder High
way, behind
Ingles grocery
store, into a
seven-acre
development.
The park
would include a
1,500-square-foot building and a 1,200-square-
foot building.
■ Please see OFFICE, 4A
Walker
Hall County
Planning
Commission
What: Proposed 7-acre
office park off Winder
Highway in South Hall
When: 5:15 p.m.
Monday, April 17
Where: Hall County
Government Center,
2875 Browns Bridge
Road, Gainesville
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