Plane Crashes Near Hackberry in Cameron Parish
Deputies with the Cameron Parish Sheriff s office were called to an area in Cameron Parish near Pete Seay Circle last night to investigate reports of a plane crash. Upon arrival at the scene deputies confirmed that a plane had in fact gone down on a small island between Hackberry and Big Lake.
CPSO investigators reportedly sent a marine unit to the crash site. According to KATC Television Sheriff Ron Johnson is reporting that there were no survivors in the crash. The Sheriff did not elaborate on how many victims were aboard the aircraft nor were the identities of those involved disclosed.
Rock Palermo
The two bodies recovered from the wreckage of a plane that went down near Hackberry Tuesday are believed to be that of flight instructor Rock Palermo and his student Don Clements. Palermo, an attorney, was also the pilot for the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Tony Mancuso was visibly emotional about the loss of Palermo.
“I’m not going to talk about the crash itself, because that’s going to be another investigation, I wanted to talk about our friend Rock who was everything to this office,” said Mancuso.
The plane, a single-engine Cessna 182 four-seater, crashed on a small island between Hackberry and Big Lake, near Pete Seay Circle just before six o’clock Tuesday night. Calcasieu Parish District Attorney Stephen Dwight said Palermo was well respected in the community.