Vernon Hampton sole occupant
By Trey Youngdahl
Former Mena resident Vernon Hampton was found dead in the wreckage of a single-engine plane in Bonnerdale, Arkansas, Saturday, Dec. 4.
The Federal Aviation Administration stated that Hampton, the lone occupant of the plane, departed from an airport in Minden, Louisiana on Friday, Dec. 3. State police were notified at approximately 10 p.m. the same day that an aircraft expected to land at Clarksville Municipal Airport was overdue.
The plane’s last known location was near Trap Mountain, located west of Hot Springs.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that Saturday morning, search crews located the crash site of the Cessna 182 airplane near the unincorporated community of Bonnerdale, in Hot Spring County, roughly 65 miles southwest of Little Rock.
NTSB investigators were reported to have arrived at the accident scene Sunday, Dec. 5.
Hampton, a resident in Clarksville, is well-known in the Mena/Polk County area as the son of Fred Hampton, founder of Hampton Aviation.
“Everybody on this airfield knew him,” remarked Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport Manager Fred Ogden. “He was kind, compassionate and an incredibly talented individual.”
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