Six Killed as C-130 Crashes in W. Virginia

Milton Barnhart was sitting at his kitchen table Wednesday when an Air National Guard transport plane crashed into his house in a huge fireball, killing all six people on board.

Barnhart’s house was destroyed, but the 77-year-old escaped without serious injury. His eyebrows and hair were singed.

Witnesses said one wing or engine on the four-engine plane, which was on a training flight, appeared to be on fire before the crash.

The turboprop C-130E was part of the 167th Tactical Airlift Group based at the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport at Martinsburg, 20 miles east of Berkeley Springs. The unit’s 12 aircraft were used to ferry troops and supplies during the Persian Gulf War.

Air National Guard Maj. Edward Dockeney Jr. said an Air Force investigation board will be convened to determine the cause of the crash.

Barnhart, a retired railroad worker who lives alone, said the plane slammed into his two-story farmhouse outside of Berkeley Springs about 9:30 a.m.

“I ran out and got out of there,” he said. “It was afire inside and outside. It took the whole roof off the house and half of the first floor. . . . The whole porch was on fire. The yard was on fire.”