by Kate Shunney
A group of volunteers and Air National Guard veterans has been working for more than a year on an effort to create a local memorial for the six Air Guard crew members killed when their C-130 crashed along Fairview Drive in Berkeley Springs on October 7, 1992.
County Commissioners have agreed to allow a memorial bench to be placed in front of the Morgan County Courthouse between two of the flagpoles.
The C-130 cargo plane took off from the Martinsburg airport and less than 15 minutes later the plane struck cross-country power lines at Spruce Pine Hollow. After striking the lines, there was a loud explosion, cables and parts of the left wing fell to the ground and the plane rolled to the left, according to an incident report. The plane then crashed into a house on Fairview Drive, killing all six crew members.
The crew included Alfred J. Steinberger III, Lt. Col., 45, of Leesburg, Va.; Dallas O. Adams Jr., Capt., 32, of Upper Marlboro, Md.; Frederic E. Jones, Staff Sgt., 24 of Martinsburg; James T. Hinchman, Staff Sgt., 31 of Inwood; George F. Griffith, Master Sgt., 56, of Moorefield; and John R. Funkhouser, Technical Sgt., 32 of Martinsburg. 
Alice Lantz, who has been part of the memorial effort and who requested the county’s approval for the bench placement, witnessed the 1992 crash. She was a member of the Air National Guard and was at her Morgan County home at the time.
Lantz recalled, at the time of the 30th anniversary of the tragedy, that she was outside her home and saw the plane in distress, with the engine on fire. She watched it go down and drove to Fairview Drive after calling the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg to tell them what she had seen.
She would later be assigned to the site’s operations center and work with investigators for weeks.
Now, Lantz is working with state and local officials to place a long-lasting memorial to those who died in the crash. She told County Commissioners she and others have designed a four-foot long bench with help from Gordon’s Memorials and have talked with the West Virginia Division of Arts & Culture about the project.
Lantz told commissioners the bench weighs 800 pounds and could take six to eight months to finish and install.
Commissioners approved the placement of the bench, pending input from the county maintenance supervisor to coordinate with lighting and electrical service at that location.
