A good officer down, his three daughters with him.
A Clovis High School student and her two younger sisters flying to spend a Memorial Day weekend with family were killed Friday evening when the private airplane piloted by their father crashed in northern Nevada near the Fallon Municipal Airport.
Kaitlyn Elizabeth Hook, 15, Rachel Katherine Hook, 12, and Mackenzie Elena Hook, 9, were killed when the twin-engine Cessna 320 crashed near the Fallon Municipal Airport. Their father, Naval Air Station Fallon Executive Officer Cmdr. Luther H. Hook III, 44, also was killed. He was the No. 2 officer at the local naval air station.
I’ve flown and sailed many times with “Meat” Hook, first aboard Constellation when we were in sister squadrons, and then again aboard Vinson. I even gave him a bit of a judo lesson once.
He was a hell of a good guy, and well-respected in the Hornet community.
What a tragic loss.
What can anyone say? A tragedy indeed. So very s0rry.
RIP
My prayers are with their familiy and friends…
A truly great man, and an even greater tragedy so close to home. I recall spending many an hour talking in his office at the base of the tower at Fallon, before he became XO. It was a pleasure to have served under him, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
My condolences to the family and yourself, Lex.
They are in my prayers, tragic that so many lives were lost. My condolences to the family and friends.
What an incredible loss—a fine Navy man and his three young daughters just beginning their life adventure. I sorrow for his family and friends. Prayers for his wife, whose sorrow is unimaginable. The sky is so unforgiving, as is the sea. We are all so vulnerable.
My sympathy to you as well, Lex. You lost a good shipmate.
I saw the news earlier and wondered if you knew the family. Horrifying and sad, and tragic beyond measure when children are lost.
When I saw the notice, I found his bio and started to wonder…
My condolences to you and all who loved him. He sounded like a great guy.
Godspeed. It takes the wind out of your sails. Sincere condolences.
I am unable to comprehend the enormity of that tragedy. It makes me physically ill. Absolutely.
Heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking. So sorry.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
A great loss and a great story.
A tragedy for all. May God bless them all and their families.
Just wondering- his plane (not likely) or a rental/club bird of some sort?
Based on Lex’s tales of rentals, it would make me a bit nervous about attempting to aviate in a bird of which I knew little about its past history and the quality of maintenance.
It takes enough skill and luck to keep all the parts defying gravity in a healthy bird.
According to the local news accounts it was his personally owned aircraft.
It was his personal plane. He kept it at Fallon Municipal Airport. He flew down to Fresno to pick up his daughters fairly regularly.
I was instantly afraid that was someone you folks knew when I saw the news. What a terrible, terrible thing to happen to a family. I’m so very sorry and will pray for all who loved them.
My very deepest condolences to the family and to his Navy “family” as well.
The Cessna 320 is kind of the stretch version of its more popular and longer-produced sibling, the 310. Big, rock-steady but like virtually all of the “smaller” twins, such as the Baron or the other Cessna 3xx series aircraft, it can be unforgiving of getting low and in a high-alpha low-airspeed state. I’ve landed at Fallon Municipal, albeit in a single, and it’s “doable” in something like a 320.
Hope and pray they find a mechanical on this one.
VR,
Comjam
I’ve tears in my eyes.
‘Nuff said.
So very, very sorry.
Nightmare indeed. Every pilot shares it. If your number’s up you pray that you’re solo with plenty of uninhabited ground below you, preferably flat without obstacles. I can’t begin to comprehend the loss of such a family tragedy. Condolences to all.
Ditto what Steve said.
Words cannot express…
A tragic loss that no eloquence of words can describe. My condolences to the family and loved ones. The grief has got to be unimaginable right now.
Lex, when I read the news and, later, your comments, I was glad that your family was with you today.
His BIO mentions seven daughters.
An unimaginable tragedy – I’m grief stricken.
My deepest condolences to all involved.
So sorry to hear this. Prayers out to his remaining family.
If ever one needed evidence that life is precious and each second should be fully lived and savored and not wasted, tragic happenings such as this should provide it.
“Here today gone tomorrow” was a common saying of my Grandparent’s generation. I used to think it a trite and hackneyed phrase, and exceedingly old-fashioned as a youth. But with each passing year for many years now
I’ve come to realize the wisdom of a saying that obviously came with experience and having lived a longish life.
One truly, truly never knows what’s just around the corner….
In our profession one expects occasional bad things to happen and one steels one’s self against it somewhat,
but not against such as this…it’s ALWAYS a shock.
I am so very sorry Lex. So very sorry.
[...] Neptunus Lex loses a warrior friend, and his three daughters, in a Memorial Day tragedy. [...]
The loss of your friend and shipmate is a tragedy. The loss of the next generation compounds it immeasurably.
Semper Fi,
ASM826
Heartbreaking! Reminds of the line “Ask not for whom the bell tolls….” All of us go sometime, but it’s doubly sad when the young go with us.
The link to the Fresno paper is dead now, alas.
Remembering the last time I spoke to Meat. It was in the hall outside the TOPGUN Ready Room at the Fleet Training Building in October of last year. I think he was about to walk on a Red Air flight. Can’t remember what we talked about, but I vividly remember the smile on his face and the joy he felt at still being able to launch with boys and spend an hour and a half away from the paperwork, heads, beds, physical plant issues and the myriad issues that are the daily stock in trade of a Naval Air Station XO. A good man, a good friend, a good pilot. Our existence is certainly frighteningly fragile. Off now to hug my three boys and be thankful on this Memorial Day.
I met Cmdr. Hook when I first got to the hawk in SEP03. he would come up to our ready room from the cdc to see if the 6 of us 102 bubbas were getting along ok since we just came from lemmore like himself. One of the nicest brown shoes in the fleet.
Many regrets to all involved.
My dad never would fly with us (mom and kids- even commercial) after he got back from the unpleasantness in Thailand and VietNam. He said he had used all his flying luck up, and didn’t want us around when he next needed it. He wouldn’t buy a ticket after the C141 mid-air off SWAfrica… he had been a frequent flyer on 9405.
I am glad they got to experience the joys of sharing the skies with an able guide.
My deepest sympathies to the family. What a horrible loss.
There but for the grace of God…
Commander Hook was a role model of mine on the USS Kitty Hawk when I was a junior supply officer and the Bull Ensign… He was always a friendly face, and would always pat me on the back, ask how I was doing, and genuinely wanted to know. I recall as a junior officer how dignified and impressive some of the senior officers seemed- Commander Hook was one of those amazing guys who could be both inspirational and friendly. My condolences to his wife and the rest of his family and friends. He won’t be forgotten.
Remember Harold at age 15:My son, Bill, and Harold had gone to the Mt. Plymouth Lake around 4:00 to go fishing. As it started to get dark I started to worry. So I waited and waited!
Finally, in the distance I heard,”Mrs. Sturgeon, Mom,Mrs. Sturgeon, come quick. ” I went out and they had caught a long string of Bass. We cleaned the fish and had a mid-night feast. Our family will miss him. Prayers and love to all that will miss him!
My dad was and is the greatest man that I have ever had the privilege of meeting. I am thankful that he has touched the lives of so many people. I find comfort in knowing that he will live on in the hearts of so many people. The loss of him and my 3 sisters has been very traumatizing and has left my family heart broken. I thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. RIP Dad, Kaitlyn, Rachel and Mackenzie. You all will live forever in my heart.