Garry Ray WILLIAMS

Garry Ray Williams
Son of Fred L. & Joyce Evelyn Williams
September 10, 1955--December 5, 2002

Garry Ray Williams' death was front page and a national TV item. He was piloting a Four Winds 192 experimental aircraft with one passenger aboard that plummeted into the Federal Reserve Bank Building in Doral, Florida, killing him and the passenger.

The Baxter Bulletin
December 11, 2002
Gary R. Williams, 47, of Edgewater, FL, formerly of Mt. Home, died Thursday, Dec 5, 2002.
He was born Sep 10, 1955, at Bowling Green, KY, to Fred L. and Joyce Evelyn Miller Williams. He was vice presidnet of Four Winds Inc. which manufactures aircraft. He was a member of Daytona Beech Seventh-day Advantist Chruch, Experimental Aircraft Association and Aircraft Owner and Pilot's Association.
Survivors include a son, Geffrey Ray Williams, and a daughter, Jennifer Roshel, both of Edgewater; his parents, Fred and Joyce Williams; one sister Teresa (Don) Hunt and two nephews, Justin and Nathan Hunt, all of Calico Rock.
A memorial service will be 2PM Thrusday at Mt. Home Seventh-day Advantist Chruch.
Interment will be private.
Memorials amy be made to 'It Is Written' Television Ministry.
Arrangements are by Roller Funeral Home.
(The cremated remains of Garry Ray Williams were placed in the Galatia Cemetery in June 2003.)

The Miami Herald
December 7, 2002
The two men killed when their experimental plane crashed near the Federal Reserve Bank building Thursday night had been in Marathon showing off their new acquisition before returning home to New Smyrna Beach.
The body bleieved to be the pilot, Garry Williams, was found in the rubble Thursday night. His passenger and colleague, Rick Grannis, was discovered Friday morning in a golf course lake just west of the crash site.
The pair spent Thursday afternoon at a party at a Marathon airport letting people fly the Four Winds 192 experimental plane.
On Thursday night, seconds after receiving clearance to fly over Miami International Airport at 5,500 feet, the plane banked violently to the southeast, then plummeted into the Federal Reserve Bank Building in Doral.
Federal investigators have yet to determine what caused the crash, but ruled out terrorism. The pilot did not report any problems.
The victims have not yet been positively identified, but infromation from workers at AAA Aircraft Leasing, which owned the plane, and police give a snapshot of events that led to the crash.
Williams, 47, and Grannis, 25, both salesmen and pilots with AAA, flew the company's newest and only flying plane to Marathon for a Christmas party with their Young Eagles flying club counterparts.
"We start production next week," said Dawn Upton, an AAA employee.
According to Upton, Grannis and Williams said six people at a Marathon party flew the aircraft that afternoon. "I spoke to several people who said it flew flawlessly." she said.
The party ended at 6PM. Then, the men got into the aircraft and began their 365-mile flight home. About 8:30 PM, witnesses saw the plane with its lights on clearing trees over Doral at about 500 feet, heading east.
"It suddenly made a hard right turn and plummeted toward the ground," said Alan Yurman, National Transportation Safety Board spokesman.
The 260,000-square-foot Fed building at 9100 NW 36th St. was not extensively damaged. Some window were shattered. Most of the 90 people there were unaware of the crash until smoke began seeping into the building, said Pierce Nelson, a Fed spokesman in Atlanta.
A body believed to be Williams was found immediately. When police identified the plane and contacted the owner, they were told Grannis was supposed to be on board. A body believed to be his was found at the bottom of a small lake on the 10th fairway of the Red Course at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa early Friday.
The remaining parts of the plane are now in a hangar at Fort Lauderdale Excutive Airport.
Yurman said the engine will be checked next week.
Both bodies are at Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office.
Sharmaine Luke, the office's manager of investigations, said the bodies will be examined for drugs or alcohol and foul play.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations also looking into the incident, said spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.
"We don't have any indication it was terrorism. But suicide or anything else, we don't know at this point," she said.
(From the files of Max Parnell.)

Contributed on 11/1/08 by maxparnell
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