Rock Palermo
The two bodies recovered from the wreckage of a plane that went down near Hackberry Tuesday are believed to be that of flight instructor Rock Palermo and his student Don Clements. Palermo, an attorney, was also the pilot for the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Tony Mancuso was visibly emotional about the loss of Palermo.
“I’m not going to talk about the crash itself, because that’s going to be another investigation, I wanted to talk about our friend Rock who was everything to this office,” said Mancuso.
The plane, a single-engine Cessna 182 four-seater, crashed on a small island between Hackberry and Big Lake, near Pete Seay Circle just before six o’clock Tuesday night. Calcasieu Parish District Attorney Stephen Dwight said Palermo was well respected in the community.
“Not only an excellent attorney, an excellent pilot, but he was an excellent friend. It’s a great loss for this department, for our entire community, but Rock will truly be missed,” said Dwight.
Mancuso expressed condolences to the families of both crash victims and personally thanked Palermo’s family for sharing him with the department over the years.
“It didn’t matter what time of night, what time of day, who was in trouble, if it was in another parish and they needed our plane, he would jump in and take over. I’m telling you he was amazing,” said Mancuso.
The investigation is being handled by the FAA and the NTSB.
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