Help from Ocala WMA hunters sought
News Release
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Media contact: Joy Hill, 352-258-3426
The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) hopes that hunters
scouting or hunting in the Hopkins Prairie Unit of the Ocala
Wildlife Management Area may be able to help find parts still
missing from a Harrier jet that crashed last month in the Ocala
National Forest.
According to Lt. Col. Craig Wirth, USMC, the
missing parts are an engine hub and fan blades. The hub is metal
and similar in shape and size to a car's wheel rim. It weighs
125 pounds and will be damaged from the crash. It is made up
of three individual discs that are normally connected, but may be
in pieces. As many as 50 fan blades may still be attached to
the hub.
Wirth said the crash actually occurred in the
Juniper Wilderness Area of the Ocala National Forest near the
Yearling trail head and Silver Glen spring, but the debris field
begins about 2.5 miles north, in the Hopkins Prairie Unit.
The hub and fan blades are safe to handle.
Wirth requests that anyone who finds them call him at 703-346-8295
(primary) or 252-466-4126 (secondary) or e-mail at craig.wirth@usmc.mil for
instructions.
Persons with Disabilities