plane crash

The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on a plane crash that killed a Tuscumbia man. Steven Raddatz, 41, of Tuscumbia was killed May 23 when the plane he was flying collided with another plane and crashed onto the lawn at Calhoun Community College in Decatur. The pilot of the other plane, B.J. Kennamore, 59, was able to land at Pryor Field and had only minor injuries.

According to the NTSB report, the two pilots had flown to Pryor Field for an open house. They were about to fly home to the Shoals and had planned to perform some aerial stunts so spectators could take photos. The report says Raddatz was going to fly in formation during a low pass over the airport, but he was flying faster than Kennamore. When Kennamore started to turn his plane and climb, Raddatz's left wing hit Kennamore's right wing. Raddatz's wing partially separated, causing him to lose control of the plane and crash.

Two people were killed yesterday when a single-engine training aircraft crashed just a few minutes after takeoff in the area of Kopaida, in the prefecture of Viotia, north of Athens. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirmed the deaths of the 42-year-old pilot and the 35-year-old trainee, both Athenians, in the early afternoon. The plane took off shortly after 2 p.m. from the airstrip of a small aviation club in Kopaida and went down just a few minutes later after reaching an altitude of 150 meters, CAA officials said.

Liz Smith

Liz Smith has been given her walking papers by the New York Post, Smith and the paper confirmed. While no reason was given, New York Post Editor Col Allan said in a statement Tuesday, "The Post is grateful to have been able to publish Liz Smith's legendary column for so many years. We wish her the very best for the future." In an interview with CNN affiliate WABC-TV in New York, Smith noted that Friday "will be the first time in 33 years that there hasn't been a Liz Smith column in a New York paper."

"That hurts my heart. I would hate to see another newspaper fail. ... When I came to New York, there were nine newspapers. I've worked for seven of them. They just disappear out from under you," Often referred to as the "Diva of Dish," the 86-year-old Smith has been a presence in New York tabloids for more than three decades. She has written for the New York Post, New York Daily News and Newsday.

Smith was also a fixture on local television, appearing on WNBC-TV for more than 10 years. In 2000, she published a memoir, "Natural Blonde," and wrote a nonfiction work in 2005 combining food and gossip, "Dishing." Though her titillating and often penetrating look at the New York social scene may be gone from tabloid pages, Smith will continue to publish, writing five times a week for wowOwow.com, an online community created and run by women for women.