Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports Chairman, Survives Plane Crash

by John Marshall, AP SPorts

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (Nov. 29) -- NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol and his college-aged son emerged from the fiery wreckage of a corporate jet after it crashed during takeoff and burst into flames, killing two crew members. Rescuers were still searching for Ebersol's younger son, whose seat was missing from the smoldering ruins.

The 18-seat charter jet with six people on board crashed Sunday morning at Montrose Regional Airport in southwest Colorado, not far from the Telluride Ski Area. A heavy snowstorm had lightened up before the plane prepared to depart for South Bend, Ind., where Ebersol's son Charles is a senior at the University of Notre Dame.

A witness said the impact ripped the cockpit from the fuselage, and that Charles Ebersol helped his 57-year-old father to safety through the front of the plane.

A second son, 14-year-old Edward, was missing, Denver NBC affiliate KUSA-TV reported. The station said crews searched by helicopter and on the ground, but that even ''Teddy'' Ebersol's plane seat could not be found. A Montrose County Sheriff's spokeswoman said the boy had not been located by late Sunday.

The sheriff's office also said two people were killed in the crash, though their identities were not released. KUSA said the victims were the pilot and co-pilot. Hospital officials said three men were treated after the crash. Federal officials said the aircraft also had a flight attendant on board.

Ebersol's wife, actress Susan Saint James, was not on the plane, the station said. The family lives in Connecticut.

Eyewitness Chuck Distel told The Associated Press by phone that he was driving on a highway parallel to the runway when he saw the plane skid sideways through a fence and brush before hitting a roadway that ripped the cockpit from the fuselage, leaving it an unrecognizable wreck. The Denver Post reported that the jet lifted off briefly before crashing.

Distel said Charles helped his father through the front of the plane and that the pair were walking around outside the wreckage as Distel and an airport official arrived. He said Ebersol didn't say a word as the younger man cried and yelled ''Oh my God! Oh my God!''

''I had to think for a second, 'who are these people?''' he said. ''They weren't severely injured, they were in shock.'' Distel said Charles was able to climb into an ambulance, while the elder Ebersol was loaded onto a stretcher.

The airport official yelled into the wreckage for survivors, but heard none. The wreckage left a burning trail of jet fuel and burst into flames, forcing Distel and other rescuers to get away.

Linda McCool, a nursing supervisor at Montrose Memorial Hospital, said three men were taken to the hospital after the crash and later transferred to other hospitals. Dan Prinster, vice president of St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, said two people were moved there from Montrose Memorial and another patient was being flown to a burn unit in Denver. Neither McCool nor Prinster would release any other information on the survivors.

A weekend storm that covered most of the state dumped more than 3 feet of snow in the Montrose area and Distel said there was light snow and fog at the time of the crash. It was not known if weather was a factor and investigators from the FAA and National Safety Transportation Board were en route to the airport, 185 miles southwest of Denver.

The Montrose airport is one of several that serves Telluride, a popular ski destination for celebrities.

The plane was identified as a CL-602 Challenger, which could hold up to 19 passengers, registered to Jet Alliance of Millville, N.J. The company offered its condolences in a statement, but said it had no additional information.

Known as a television innovator, Ebersol has a long history at NBC.

He became the network's director of late-night programming in 1974 and replaced Lorne Michaels for a rocky tenure as executive producer of ''Saturday Night Live'' in the early 1980s. Ebersol, of Litchfield, Conn., became president of NBC Sports in 1989 and recently signed a contract that keeps him at the network through 2012.

Ebersol is best-known for his love affair with the Olympics. A protege of Olympics-coverage pioneer Roone Arledge, he worked as an ABC researcher at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Games and carried on Arledge's philosophy of presenting the Olympics through storytelling, rather than emphasizing results.

''He is very innovative,'' Fox Sports chairman David Hill said Sunday. ''He's obviously a great leader and, from my perspective, a very worthy competitor.''