Documentary honors 50th anniversary of group of friends killed in Ky. plane crash

RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) - What should have been a plane ride home from a football game, ended in tragedy. 50 years later, a documentary looks back on the crash that killed ten people and how it changed a community.

November 17, 1972. It was the day Richmond stood still. 50 years ago, 10 friends, ages 22 to 57, chartered a plane from Lexington to Hopkinsville on a special occasion, to see the Madison High School playoff game. The men were headed back to Lexington that night when the plane went down.

The plane crashed in Elkton and everyone on board died. However, it was the stories of their lives that inspired Phillip Seyfrit and team to create a 50-minute documentary. Friends and families regaling what kind of people they all were and the kind of loss they left behind.

“It was just hard to believe that this particular group of people were not going home,” Seyfrit said. “It’s still affected this community to this day. It did not end when the services did.”

“James Austin House was one of my best friends,” Madison County Coroner, Jimmy Cornelison said.

Friends since high school, Jimmy Cornelison was there the night of the 17th to pick James up after the flight.

“We waited until 1:30, 2 o’clock in the morning,” Cornelison said. “We waited and waited and no one showed up, so we went on home. My mom woke me up the next morning and told me what happened.”

Just like everyone in the room for Seyfrit’s movie premiere, Cornelison has spent the past five decades wondering what could have been.

“I’m going to tell you, it would have been vast,” Cornelison said. With their intelligence and connections, they would have been successful. We missed out. All of us.”

Seyfrit plans to upload the entire documentary on YouTube, Friday. It’s titled ‘The Day Richmond Stood Still’.

Copyright 2022 WKYT. All rights reserved.