Cline Plane Auction Cancelled, Reinstated By: Amy McDaniel Online auction house eBay temporarily grounded two Jackson brothers' attempt to sell two large pieces of the crashed plane in which country music star Patsy Cline died. An eBay customer service representative yanked Eric and Scott Mills' listing from the web site Thursday afternoon because of a company policy regarding offensive items and language, eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said. But after the Mills brothers objected to the cancellation, eBay decided it was a mistake and reinstated the auction Friday, he said. The seller in any cancelled auction always has a chance to appeal, he said. "A portion of that policy allows us to remove items associated with particularly horrendous accidents or violence," Pursglove said. "We have exercised that policy with Dale Earnhardt memorabilia and memorabilia of the JFK Jr. plane crash." That policy was put in place out of respect for family members of recent accident victims, he said. But he added that Cline's plane pieces don't violate the policy because no gratuitous language was used in the listing and the crash happened almost 40 years ago. The plane went down in Benton County on March 5, 1963, killing Cline, fellow musicians Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes. The Mills brothers bought part of the plane's belly and a section of the tail with a partial identification number, believed to be the two largest remaining scraps, from Benton County farmer W.C. Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth was one of the first people on the scene after the plane went down near Camden. Bids of $50,000 and $50,100 had been offered before eBay ended the auction. The Mills said they were flooded with calls and e-mails from people who wanted to know what happened. "I think it's all right (that the auction is reinstated,) but it's possible that this could have hurt us as far as people thinking our listing isn't there anymore," Scott Mills said. "They might not come back (to the site.)" Family members of the crash victims have said they don't object to sale of the wreckage. "I could understand the pieces going into a museum, but I wouldn't buy them; though I don't doubt that those are pieces of that plane," Charlie Dick, Patsy Cline's husband, told The Jackson Sun last month. If eBay hadn't reconsidered, the brothers may have held their own auction in Nashville and taken legal action against eBay for damaging their credibility with potential buyers, Eric Mills said. He expects the wreckage to bring in more than $100,000. The sale, which began Aug. 31, ended abruptly just as it was heating up with numerous people saying they planned to bid on the final day, Eric Mills said. The auction originally would have ended Monday, but may be extended to make up for lost time, his brother said. The e-mail the brothers received from San Jose, Ca.-based eBay merely said their item was "inappropriate for listing," and referred them to online links explaining eBay policies. No specific reason was given for the cancellation. In this case, the cancellation happened when a customer service representative did a random search for offensive items, Pursglove said. But with close to 6 million listings on a given day, employees can't police them all and items are more often removed because a customer sends an e-mail suggesting that the item might violate a policy or law, he said. No customers complained about the plane wreckage. However, the items have stirred both positive and negative public comment across the country. In an Aug. 28 "CyberSpeak" column in USA Today, Janet Kornblum wrote that some fans wanted the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville to buy the pieces, while others were upset it would be sold at all. But an article on the fan site "Patsified!" supported the brothers' right to sell valuable memorabilia. Scott Mills said most fans seem to support the sale and (as) for those who don't, (it's) because they'd rather see it donated to the Hall of Fame. A spokeswoman for the museum said it would like to own the pieces but couldn't afford to buy them.

Originally Published In the Jackson Sun In September 2001







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