WHITE PASS — As family and friends of 10 people who died in a mountain plane crash begin to ask questions about why they have lost their loved ones, federal investigators today were expected to start a long journey in search of answers.
A team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators was expected to begin poring over the crash site today, looking for clues to explain why a Cessna 208 Grand Caravan airplane filled with skydivers based in Snohomish did not return home.
It could take up to a year to figure out what went wrong Sunday with a plane considered by many a reliable workhorse, but also with a history of problems flying in icy conditions.
The goal is to give the victims’ families some answers and hopefully help prevent future tragedies, said Debra Eckrote, regional director for the NTSB, the federal agency that investigates plane crashes.
“Sometimes we can’t answer all their questions,” she said. “I’m doing it because I might be able to save somebody else.”
The plane left Star, Idaho, near Boise, on its way to Shelton, in Mason County, on Sunday. The Cessna was ferrying the sky divers between Idaho and Washington, said Keri Farrington, a manager at Kapowsin Air Sports of Shelton, owner of the plane.
The accident debris field spread out about 100 feet by 60 feet and parts of the plane were scattered across rugged terrain near Rimrock Lake west of Yakima. It appeared that the plane crashed straight into the ground at about 70 mph, crashing at about 4,300 feet, Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin said Tuesday at a press conference. It’s unlikely the sky divers would have been wearing their parachutes.
On Tuesday, families and friends of those who died spent part of the day gathered around a large campfire. In the afternoon, they watched helicopters begin ferrying the victims’ bodies down from the mountainside.
They broke into tears, and consoled each other with hugs and memories.
The mood was somber.
Pieces of the plane will be hauled from the site, the bigger ones by helicopter, Eckrote said. They will be brought to an aviation facility in Maple Valley in King County, where they likely will be reconstructed.
Investigators will photograph the position of each piece of plane before it is removed and try to sort out how the plane crashed, Eckrote said. That field investigation is only a small part of figuring out what went wrong, she added.
Weather problems, possible equipment failure and potential pilot error all will be studied, she said.
“It’s tough to pin it down just because of all the unknowns at this early stage,” Eckrote said.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the use of airplanes, is assisting the NTSB in its investigation, while at the same time conducting one of its own.
“We are looking at the entire flight profile roughly from takeoff to impact,” said Mike Fergus, a spokesman for the FAA’s Northwest Mountain Region.
Fergus’ agency will review radio communications, check the maintenance log and make sure the aircraft was being used in the way it was designed.
“NTSB is focused on cause. Ours is not,” Fergus said. “We go in with an open mind as best we can, and say everything is on the table. We will let our investigation take things off the table.”
The Cessna 208 debuted in 1985.
“The 208 Grand Caravan is a work horse,” Fergus said. “The plane was built to do things like (move people and serve as a skydiving plane). Up in Alaska, it hauls kids to school. FedEx uses it for shipping.”
Since 1985, the same make of plane that crashed Sunday has been involved in 110 accidents in the U. S., 151 worldwide, according to NTSB records.
The plane is popular, with 1,600 worldwide logging about 70,000 hours of flight time per month, said Doug Oliver, a spokesman for Cessna Aircraft Co., of Wichita, Kan.
“It’s in the air a lot,” Oliver said. “It has an excellent safety record.”
Federal aviation officials issued a safety advisory in 2006 suggesting the Cessna 208 may not perform well in weather conditions prone to wing icing. That happens when tiny unfrozen drops of water hit a plane’s wings, freeze and stick to the surface.
“The (National Transportation) Safety Board is very concerned about deficiencies in the cold weather operational procedures used by Cessna 208 pilots and the performance of the airplane in icing conditions,” states a safety advisory issued by NTSB in 2006.
The board recommended that the minimum speed Cessna 208s are allowed to fly in icing conditions be increased to 120 knots, or 138 mph. Previously, the minimum recommended speed was 105 knots, or 121 mph. The advisory also urged pilots to fly on manual control during icing conditions and to not fly in anything more severe than “light icing” conditions.
“It’s common knowledge that this aircraft has an icing issue,” said Alisa Brodkowitz, a Seattle-based attorney who specializes in representing the families of plane-crash victims.
Brodkowitz said it appears the plane that crashed Sunday may have been flying at a sufficient altitude to encounter an icing problem. She also questioned whether it was prudent to fly with so many passengers in a plane with a single engine.
“It poses a real safety concern when you have a big plane carrying 10 people flying on one engine under inclement flight conditions,” she said.
Oliver said Cessna complies with all applicable regulations.
The company has provided additional training to pilots about flying in conditions prone to icing, knows its plane is up to the challenge, but also has a policy of recommending that pilots avoid such flights, he said.
Herald writer Bill Sheets contributed to this report.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
