News & Notes: Wahconah Coach Powell Dies; Report Released on Sheffield Plane Landing
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DALTON, Mass. — Berkshire County high school athletics lost one of its true good guys Monday.
Robert "Boog" Powell, 53, who was athletic director, girls' basketball coach and girls' soccer coach at Wahconah Regional High School for more than 20 years, died at his home in Dalton early Monday morning.
The official cause of death has not been released but Tom Callahan, former Wahconah principal, said Powell had pneumonia for more than a week and was restricted to his home under the orders of his doctor.
Powell was in his 22nd season as coach of the girls' soccer team and had been the Warrior girls' basketball coach for the past 26 years. Powell was not only the face of Wahconah athletics, but also had a hand in shaping Berkshire County athletics as a whole, serving as head of the Berkshire County Athletic Directors Association. Funeral service information was not yet available.
Sheffield Plane Incident Report Released By NTSB
SHEFFIELD, Mass. — The National Transportation Safety Advisory Board's preliminary report on the single-engine plane that made an emergency landing in Sheffield on Sept. 15 was released over the weekend.
The report says the small plane carrying a cleaning crew headed from Farmingdale, N.Y., to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., was forced down in a field off Route 41 because of engine trouble.
According to the report, pilot Larry Davis heard whooshing sounds and the engine started to experience torque fluctuations and then went idle. Upon landing, the planes right wing and landing gear were dislodged and the plane burst into flames. All five passengers and the pilot got out without injury. The plane was destroyed by the subsequent fire.
The NTSB report said the inspectors found impact damage to the interior of the aircraft's exhaust duct, including pieces of its turbine blade. That could have occurred either before or after the plane's impact. A final report is expected to be out within a year and a half.
For more information, listen to the Berkshire News Network on WNAW 1340-AM and WUPE 95.9-FM.
