GEORGETOWN, S.C. — Friends and neighbors remember Richard H. “Harvey” Gross as a man who was friendly and could fix anything.

Gross is a McClellanville man who died Wednesday in the second fatal aviation crash in Georgetown County in less than a year.

Ted Dawson, a close friend, said the last conversation the two had was about an airplane that landed Saturday in McClellanville.

The seaplane, which landed in Jeremy Creek, sparked their curiosity, Dawson said. The two men talked to the pilot, who had stopped in the village for fuel.

Gross’s death has been a big loss to McClellanville, Dawson said.

“Harvey was extremely intelligent and very skilled and dexterous,” Dawson said. “He was able to do anything mechanically and with woodworking. I lost my wife about 11 months ago in an automobile accident and he would come by every week to comfort me in my loss.”

Gross and his wife, Pat, plus their two children, Tammy and J.R., moved to McClellanville in the 1980s, according to friends.

Pat’s parents had also moved to McClellanville, Dawson said.

Since then, they had become well known and well liked in McClellanville.

Pat Gross became a librarian for the Charleston County Library in the town and her husband did repairs on most everything, Dawson said.

Later, his son, J.R., helped his father in the family business. J.R. and Tammy both graduated from Clemson with engineering degrees.

Tammy has two children, according to friends of the family.

Experienced pilot

Dawson said Gross had bought the Stinson airplane, which he was flying Wednesday, about six months ago. Gross stayed busy repairing the plane, Dawson said.

“I was ready to go fly in it and so was my son,” Dawson said.  “I went with him to Andrews, while he was working on the plane. He also worked on the hanger in Andrews. He was able to repair almost anything.”

Other McClellanville residents remembered Gross as a kind person.

He visited the McClellanville Diner each morning and participated in a round table discussion, said neighbor Linda Altman.

“He was just a wonderful person,” she said. “He was a really good guy. He loved to hunt and fish and he loved to fly. We said this morning at the diner, ‘Who will we turn to tell us funny stories.’ It puts a hole in our hearts. This village is going to miss Harvey.”

The crash

Gross, 66, died when the small plane he was piloting went down in a wooded area adjacent to the Andrews Airport at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Georgetown County Coroner’s Office.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.

However, the NTSB said Gross was performing a maneuver called “touch and go” when the crash occurred.

Touch and go is used by pilots as they are practicing. It is when the pilot lands on the runway then takes off again without coming to a full stop.

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the plane was a single engine Stinson.

Georgetown County Sheriff’s spokesman Neil Johnson said the plane went down about 150 yards from the runway of the airport, also known as the Robert Swinney Airport.

Lunsford said Gross was the only person aboard the plane when it crashed. There was no air traffic communication with Gross during his flight.

The airport is closed while the investigation takes place, Johnson said.

Lunsford said because it is a fatal accident, the National Transportation and Safety Board will be the lead investigative agency.

Pete Kinder, chairman of the Georgetown County Airport Commission, said Wednesday Gross had kept his plane at the Andrews Airport but he had personally never seen him fly the plane.

Lunsford said it is still unknown whether Gross had just taken off from the airport or was attempting to land at the time of the crash.

A previous crash in county

The last fatal aviation accident in Georgetown County occurred in September, 2009 when a medical helicopter, owned by OmniFlight Helicopters, crashed in a densely-wooded area off of White Hall Road, just south of Maryville.

The pilot, a nurse and medic were all killed in that accident.

By Scott Harper and Kelly Fuller

Staff writers