BOBBY Z NEWS JOURNALISM

Writings

ABOUT

BREAKING NEWS STORIES

Casino Junket Crash

 

Atlantic City International Airport

The tragic crash near my hometown occurred on the same day that I was attending the Inland Water Grand Prix Superboats Show on the Manesquan River at Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. Jetstream impacted the ground as the pilots were attempting to make an emergency landing after all engine power was lost. Tragically, the aircraft appears to have simply dropped from the sky like a ball when all engine-power was lost. News of the crash reached my pager at mid-afternoon with a text message stating, "Bobby, call Citizens Voice News Desk. Emergency". I returned the call to the local newspaper where I first heard the news about the airplane crash at Bear Creek from News Editor Barbara Loftus. She was surprised to hear that I was just a few miles away from Atlantic City International Airport.

I abruprtly headed down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City where I started shooting photos alongside television and newspaper photographers from the area who were working the Breaking News story on the airplane crash that impacted their local coverage area. My conversations with reporters from KYW Channel 3 and WPVI Channel 6 all focused on one clear question, "How could such a tragic event happen so close to home." A freelance photographer was there too shooting for the Associated Press. We all knew that once her photographs were published in newspapers nationwide the attention would shift to becoming a national news story.

Among the many shots taken by me were a series of photographs featuring a rather large group of gamblers who resided in a town further up the east coast. They were preparing to board a similar Casino-Junket charter flight for the trip home oblivious to what had occurred earlier. The scene at the departure gates could best be described as organized chaos as people stood in line holding their tickets. The people from my hometown area that lost their lives aboard the ill-fated aircraft that crashed that day were very familiar with this staging area because many had flown regularly on these Casino-Junket flights to Atlantic City.

A Drizzly Foggy Day In The Poconos

My drive back to Wilkes-Barre took about four hours that night arriving shortly after midnight. Driving was challenging at best as my car moved slowly through heavy fog. It was like driving through milky soup all the way up the Turnpike. The toll person who took my ticket and money upon exiting asked, "Did you hear about the airplane crash? He then pointed towards the trees off to the right and added, "The plane went down a few miles or so beyond those trees. There's people lying dead out there." I spotted several television news stations Live News Trucks off in the distance. Several people could be seen walking around the muddy ground after rapping up their daylong work.

Photos Atlantic City/Bob Zampetti