SMOKIN WHAT??????
Keep in mind the events of 30 years past do fade. Those 50 and older at this time are likely deceased, those younger that say 35? have only heard about it second hand. For those who lost family, friends, neighbors the reluctancy to discuss a tragedy is probably good judgement not a mental illness.

Half the town being there is false, a 2000 sensus had the population at nearly 3000 and only 500 were in attendance that day. Many were from surrounding communities, your facts are BS. I can attest that more people lived there when Latrobe Steel, Standard Steel, Vulcan Mold, Derry Westinghouse was booming at this time. The general doom and gloom might have something to do with industry on a steady decline and the mean income of that general area being rater low. Paint the picture of a drug infested ass-backwards town but it has its quirks like anyplace else. Its small town USA where many just keep to themselves, and gossip about the neighbors. The lone traffic light is just a product of the last 10 years, however very few of the bars have ever closed. Maybe head south into some small places in Fayette county and see how alike many of these places can be.

http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=helicopter+derry+PA&btnG=Search+Ar chives&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&scoring=t&as_ldate=1978&as_hdate=1978

Information on this crash can be obtained though many on-line reports, if you really need to know subscribe to a few and go for it but dont look for any locals to jump up and start spouting details. The town having some mass mental illness from a 1978 event is absolute crap.