Plane damaged by limb knocked loose by winds, rain
Published 10:15 pm Tuesday, September 2, 2014
A tree limb lays across the T-33 positioned outside Selma’s Memorial Stadium Tuesday. City crews began removing the limb Tuesday afternoon, discovering significant damage to the plane’s cockpit. Selma’s Parks and Recreation Department paid for the plane to be refurbished in May 2011. — Daniel Evans
A T-33 plane, positioned in front of Selma’s Memorial Stadium, suffered significant damage Saturday when heavy rains and high winds caused a large tree limb to fall on the plane.
The extent of the damage and repair any costs are not yet known.
Elton Reece, director of the Selma Recreation Department, said the tree destroyed the plane’s cockpit canopy and caused other damage.
Crews with the city of Selma’s Public Works department worked to remove the limb Tuesday afternoon. The limb fell from a nearby oak tree.
The plane — which resembles the T-33 planes once used for training Craig Air Force Base — was renovated in May 2011.
The restoration of the plane was done in concert with the massive renovation projects at Memorial Stadium and Bloch Park. The stadium renovations were paid through the city’s massive bond project, but the plane renovations were funded through the park and recreation department’s budget.
Reece said another large limb feel a few weeks earlier, just missing the plane.
