DFO plane crash: American golfers named as victims of horror plane crash at Essendon Fields
UPDATE: THE fifth victim of yesterday’s horrific crash at Essendon Airport has been named as retiree John Washburn.
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LATEST: THE fifth victim of yesterday’s horrific crash at Essendon Airport has been named as American retiree John Washburn.
Mr Washburn, a 67-year-old retiree, was identified overnight by family, according to Texas newspaper The Statesman.
Mr Washburn was an executive and general counsel at Sammons Enterprises in Dallas before he retired.
He was also a neighbour of one of the other victims Russell Munsch.
Tributes have flowed for Mr Washburn, Mr Garland, Mr Munsch, Greg DeHaven who were killed after their King Island-bound plane crashed after takeoff.
Mr Garland, who was on the golf trip of a lifetime with a group of friends, had eerily spoken of his fears of small planes just days before the crash.
He was a successful Texan entrepreneur and investor, was the co-founder and former CEO of CLEAResult.
The company’s other co-founder Jim Stimmel said he was devastated by his death.
“Glenn Garland was more than a colleague to me, he was a visionary and a close friend,” he said.
“I am devastated to hear of his passing and my heart and thoughts are with his family.
“We have all lost an incredible man. I am blessed to have known and worked closely with Glenn for many years.”
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Mr Garland had earlier spoken about his fears of small planes on Facebook after taking a scenic flight in New Zealand, where the trip started.
Posting a picture of his wife, Laurie, in front of the plane, he said: “How can she be so calm when I’m worried about needing an extra pair of underwear.”
After landing, he told his friends: “I only burned 5000 calories of anxiety on the flight over. I’m not so much on those smaller planes even though we had a great pilot.”
The trip ended in tragedy for the golfers when they took to the skies yesterday in the hope of teeing off at one of Australia’s premier golfing regions.
The group was on a three-week adventure from Austin, Texas in the US.
The men’s grief-stricken wives were travelling with them and had planned a day trip to the Great Ocean Road while their husbands played at one of King Island’s popular golf courses.
They were being assisted last night by the US consulate in Melbourne.
Mr Garland had taken to social media daily, sometimes three times a day, to boast about their dream golf getaway.”
He would often comment on the difficulty of the courses and the weather conditions.
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The trip started in New Zealand where the men played at the country’s most expensive and premier golf course, Tara Iti, as well as Cape Kidnappers.
Mr Garland’s wife, Laurie, also joined them, at times, on the course.
“The fog was so bad on the last four holes you could not see fairways or greens,” Mr Garland wrote of their game at Kauri Cliffs golf course.
“Despite all that, my wife managed her first eagle on the 10th hole to steal a skin from Russ Munsch who had a gimme birdie.”
While at Tara Iti, he said he managed a 73, “which I thought was pretty good until Greg DeHaven shot his age (70), the first time out on the course”.
In his last post, Mr Garland spoke of the “really tough and windy conditions” as they played at Kingston Heath golf course, recognised as one of the finest courses in the world and host of last year’s World Cup of Golf, southeast of Melbourne on Monday.
On Sunday, they battled “rain squalls” and “wind that was almost biblical in the fierceness” at Black Rock’s premier Royal Melbourne 36-hole course.
“The only thing we missed was a plague of locusts,” Mr Garland wrote. “My hat is off to the Aussies that play in this everyday. Melbourne is one magnificent and amazing city.”
In between playing the game they all loved, the men enjoyed exploring the sights with their wives, with happy snaps taken of the group at Mission Winery in the Hawkes Bay region.
“Outstanding lunch and great wines,” Mr Garland said.
He also posted a photo of him and his wife at a lookout looking over Wellington city, and spoke about jet boating around the canyons in Queenstown at “55mph in barely a foot of water ... awesome”.
One photo posted online showed the group posing with their tongues out in an impersonation of New Zealand’s traditional haka war dance.
“You decide, who is more fierce, the Maori warriors, or the golfers?,” Mr Garland wrote.
Those back home in the US following his adventures online commented how he looked to be in his element and urged him to continue having fun. Eerily, one friend wrote: “Stay safe, Glenn.”
At one time, Mr Garland expressed his angst at flying in small planes, as they took a flight to see Milford Sound on the South Island’s southwest.
Despite his small fear of planes, Mr Garland, who retired two years ago as chief executive of energy consulting company CLEAResult, which he founded in 2003, had travelled the world — including to Mexico, the UK, China and France.
Speaking to the Herald Sun from her US home, Mr DeHaven’s sister, Denelle Wicht, said her brother loved playing golf.
She said it gave her some degree of solace that her brother had spent the last few days of his life playing the game he loved. “My brother absolutely loved golf and our parents loved golf,” she said.
“If it had to be and he had to go, this would have sat OK with him.
“He was just a great guy, he was a really good guy. A very nice man and very athletic.
“They all went on this trip together, it is a really sad thing.”
Ms Wicht had earlier broken the news to family and friends in an emotional post online: “Dear friends and family, my handsome athletic big brother was killed today in a plane accident while on his ‘once in a lifetime’ trip to Australia.
“It was a charter flight with two of his friends flying to another island to play golf.”
CLEAResult also paid tribute in a statement.
“We at CLEAResult are heartbroken to hear of Glenn Garland’s passing,” the statement read.
“Glenn was an inspirational leader who co-founded our company with a unique vision for the vast potential of the energy efficiency industry.
“Our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.”
Mr DeHaven, 70, kept himself fit and until recently had competed in triathlons.
The retired FBI agent was the father of three children and six grandchildren.
“It was a three-week vacation. Included a lot of different experiences, all around the country,” Ms Wicht said.
“A lot was centred on golf but there was some resort time.
“We grew up in North Carolina, Virginia and he loved the ocean. He was very athletic and competed at one time in triathlon.”
Carol Holst, a cousin of Mr Munsch, posted a picture of him online yesterday, saying: “Russ was killed in a plane crash in Australia today. Hug your loved ones. You never know.”
Mr Munsch was one of six young attorneys who started Munsch Hardt in Texas in 1985 believing “they could create a better type of law firm”.
He mostly dealt with creditors rights, insolvency, bankruptcy and commercial law.
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