A plane crash has claimed the lives of four prominent Kosciusko County residents. Officials in Oconee County South Carolina have confirmed that the plane carrying Charlie Smith, Scott Smith, Scott Bibler and Tony Elliot crashed in a remote area at the Georgia-South Carolina line Friday. The FAA is investigating the crash. A spokeswoman says air traffic controllers received a “mayday” call from the Piper PA-32 around 3:15pm and the plane was lost from radar around 4pm about 20 miles from the Clemson airport. Weather was likely a factor in that crash.
Charlie Smith was a former football coach at Tippecanoe Valley who served as a Warsaw City Councilman. His son Scott was an attorney in Warsaw. Bibler also was a football coach at Tippecanoe Valley who stepped down from that position this summer to work with young people in the community, and Tony Elliot was the owner of Elliot’s Cars and Karts in Warsaw and had just retired from driving in local sprint cup-style racing. The four were on their way to watch the Notre Dame-Clemson football game tonight in South Carolina.
According to officials, Scott and Charlie Smith died of blunt force trauma. Their memorial service will be at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at Warsaw Community Church.
