Plane Crash at Fairfield County Infirmary

FCI from rear field/cemetery

If you were a resident (or inmate, as they were called) of the Fairfield County Infirmary in Ohio, chances are, you probably witnessed some weird stuff. Serving as the county poor house, orphanage, and overall place to house people who couldn't take care of themselves since the mid-1800's, FCI now operates as a premier destination for those interested in haunted history. But, not all the strange stories that come from the old brick building are paranormal in nature! 

For today's blog, I wanted to continue to share some of the non-spooky, yet fascinating history from the grounds of the Fairfield County Infirmary, including an incident that happened in the autumn of 1950:

On Thursday, October 5, 1950, a Cessna plane owned by Baker Aviation Corp was being piloted by 23 year old Robert W. Brocklesby, of Caledonia. The only passenger aboard the small aircraft was a 22 year old medical technician working at Marion City Hospital, named Barbara Ann Beck. According to the pilot's parents, Brocklesby became lost when he couldn't find the local airport. The reason he couldn't find the local airport was that there were absolutely no lights on at all, indicating where the runway was. After trying to find the airport for some time, the plane ran out of gas and Brocklesby crashed the plane in a hard, forced landing....in the field across from the Fairfield County Infirmary! 

The plane was returning to Marion from Detroit, and unfortunately, Barbara was injured in the landing, suffering a broken vertebra. She was treated in a local hospital until October 21, then released to her parents' care. 

Luckily, this accident was not as bad as it could have potentially been...but I can't imagine what was going through the minds of the 'inmates' as they heard, then watched all of this unfold on their property. Many of FCI's 'inmates' were elderly and/or feeble-minded. This was also 1950. A plane crashing so close by, even by today's standards, would be a scary experience. Back then, those people probably thought the world was coming to an end! But, again, luckily no one was killed or injured too badly. The mayor made sure new bulbs were ordered for the local runway, and the cornfield crash became just another wild event in a long history of strange and unexplained events that have made FCI the awesome place to investigate that it is today!

From the October , 1950 edition of the Marion Star:

Mercer County Airport

Source: Mercer Co. Airport Website

Mercer County Airport is a small public airport located outside of Bluefield, WV. Construction began on the airport in 1951, and was completed by May 15, 1954, when a dedication ceremony was held to commemorate the opening of the new airport.

In the early 2000s, the crew of an aero-medical group opened up base operations at the airport, which left members of their crew the only living persons to man the airport late into the night and into early morning.  Shortly thereafter, rumors began to circulate and stories were reported that the airport may or may not be haunted.  According to Mark Stokes, who reported the activity to the WVGhosts site in 2006, employees would feel the sense of being watched during the night, although they were the only ones on site.  Cold chills and shivers were commonplace, as were weird banging sounds that echoed through the early morning hours.

Pieces of the wreck. Photo from the NTSB Report

Many who have experienced the phenomena attribute the activity to a plane crash that killed all on board.  At 8:44am, on January 21, 1981, a Cessna 500 Citation carrying two crew members and three passengers crashed, killing all five people.  The plane was owned by the Georgia-Pacific Company, and was taking three employees from the company's southern offices in Augusta, Georgia to Maryland for short business trip. The stopover in Bluefield, WV at the Mercer County Airport was so that they could drop off a public relations employee. According to newspaper articles at the time of the crash, Georgia-Pacific had an office in Bluefield to manage its extensive timber holdings in the Mountain State.

As the pilot attempted to make a landing on Runway 23, weather conditions resulted in the plane overrunning the runway as it slid on slushy, wet snow, striking 3 localizer antennae and a 10ft embankment, before going down over a wooded hill and bursting into flames. It is said that the hill was so steep that rescue personnel had to be lowered down using ropes. Unfortunately, it was too late to save anyone.

Killed in the grisly accident were pilots Bobby Martin and Larry Rodeffer; John P. Maddocks, in charge of public relations for the southern division; and two engineers, Emmit Swearingen and Robert Benner.

Ghost Sightings as told by Mark Stokes to WVGhosts
Full Accident Report from the NTSB
Palm Beach Post (January 22, 1981)
Cumberland News (January 28, 1981)
Airport Website

*Updated on 26 January 2018*