Published: Friday, October 12, 2007
Photo of crash scene, some details released by NTSB
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National Transportation Safety Board
Wreckage site of N430A, which crashed near Yakima, Washington on October 7.
Federal officials investigating Sunday's plane crash that killed 10 men and women with ties to Skydive Snohomish have released new details about the last moments before the plane slammed into a mountainside.
The plane, a Cessna 208B, made a tight 360-degree turn before losing 1,400 feet of altitude in 12 seconds, according to radar data, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
"The aircraft appeared to recover and stayed at 13,000 feet for three radar hits before it entered a rapid descent of 6,800 feet per minute to the last radar hit at 8,900 feet," the NTSB said in a statement released today.
The agency used radar "ping" data collected every six seconds to track the flight until just before it crashed at about 5,000 feet in the Cascade range near White Pass.
The advisory does not list a cause for the accident.
It does say adverse weather was reported during the time of the crash. The Cessna 208 has come under scrutiny by NTSB because of the number of crashes that have occurred when ice has built up on its wings.
The plane, carrying members of the Harvey Field-based skydiving club, left Star, Idaho, near Boise, on its way to Shelton, in Mason County. It was ferrying sky divers between Idaho and Washington after a weekend of jumping with other sky diving groups.
A preliminary report on the accident likely will be released next week, said Keith Holloway, spokesman for NTSB. The cause will not be released. It may take a year or more to figure out what went wrong. The wreckage is being removed from the mountainside.
"It's too soon to determine a cause at this time," Holloway said. "We don't speculate."
The plane, a Cessna 208B, made a tight 360-degree turn before losing 1,400 feet of altitude in 12 seconds, according to radar data, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
"The aircraft appeared to recover and stayed at 13,000 feet for three radar hits before it entered a rapid descent of 6,800 feet per minute to the last radar hit at 8,900 feet," the NTSB said in a statement released today.
The agency used radar "ping" data collected every six seconds to track the flight until just before it crashed at about 5,000 feet in the Cascade range near White Pass.
The advisory does not list a cause for the accident.
It does say adverse weather was reported during the time of the crash. The Cessna 208 has come under scrutiny by NTSB because of the number of crashes that have occurred when ice has built up on its wings.
The plane, carrying members of the Harvey Field-based skydiving club, left Star, Idaho, near Boise, on its way to Shelton, in Mason County. It was ferrying sky divers between Idaho and Washington after a weekend of jumping with other sky diving groups.
A preliminary report on the accident likely will be released next week, said Keith Holloway, spokesman for NTSB. The cause will not be released. It may take a year or more to figure out what went wrong. The wreckage is being removed from the mountainside.
"It's too soon to determine a cause at this time," Holloway said. "We don't speculate."
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