News
Allergy med cited in death of CEO with Marion ties
A 2006 plane crash that killed J.D. Byrider founder and former Marion businessman James F. DeVoe and two others likely was caused by pilot error and impairment from an over-the-counter medication, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
In a preliminary crash report filed by the federal agency Jan. 31, the on-duty air traffic controller and witnesses reported that the plane decreased its velocity while approaching the runway March 23, 2006, at Melbourne International Airport in Melbourne, Fla.
The controller advised the pilot that he was approaching the runway too quickly and that another single-engine plane was also using the runway. That is when the pilot reportedly lowered the plane's velocity. The controller cleared the plane to land, and the pilot acknowledged, but there was no further transmission from the plane.
A toxicology report revealed the pilot's system contained regular-dosage levels of diphenhydramine, marketed in the United States as Benadryl. This antihistamine medication can cause drowsiness at recommended doses but is not explicitly restricted for pilot use, according to a report in The Indianapolis Star.
DeVoe, who was 63 at the time of the crash, was the founder of the national used-car retail chain. He had grown the business to a 123-location, 28-state company at the time of his death.
He and his son-in-law, Steele Gudal, were traveling from Jacksonville, Fla., to Melbourne to scout the possible location of a new J.D. Byrider franchise.
DeVoe, president and CEO of the company, had lived in Carmel for about six years before the crash but spent most of his life in Grant County. His father, Paul DeVoe, was the owner of DeVoe Chevrolet-Cadillac, where the younger DeVoe learned the auto sales business.
"He was always innovative, always searching for a new way to do something, always a very caring, very loving father," Barry Bunker told the Chronicle-Tribune after DeVoe's death in 2006. Bunker worked for DeVoe for more than 30 years and took over the family's Chevrolet dealership in 2003. "Just a nice person; I have nothing but good memories."
DeVoe is survived by his wife and six children.