Everett pilot reported trouble just before crash
Published 9:00 pm Monday, December 8, 2003
The pilot of a single-engine airplane that crashed Nov. 25 in northwest Oregon, killing an Everett family, reported a mechanical problem shortly before the wreck, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report.
Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the crash, but said the first indication that something went wrong came at 6:55 a.m. that day.
Pilot Phil Brewer reported that his plane, with his wife and two stepdaughters aboard, had "lost suction gauge," then radioed "mayday," according to the report.
Brewer, an experienced pilot, was reporting that he’d lost power to the plane’s gyroscopic flight instruments, NTSB senior air safety investigator Debra Eckrote said Monday.
"That’s your way of telling you if you’re flying straight and level, turning, ascending or descending," she said. "When you’re in the clouds and can’t see the horizon, the pilot is focused on the instruments."
Brewer could have continued flying without instruments, Eckrote said, noting that would not have affected the plane’s engine or flight controls.
Residents who heard the plane prior to the crash reported that the Beech Bonanza aircraft was flying low and sounded as if it was in trouble, with its engine sputtering.
The plane, which took off from Arlington Airport, was headed for Palm Springs, Calif. Brewer and his wife, Sondra, were taking her daughters, Elisse, 11, and Marisa Vandeventer, 9, to visit his family for Thanksgiving.
The crash happened about three miles north of the Scappoose, Ore., airport, northwest of Vancouver, Wash. All four died at the scene.
The fuselage and engine were found on the east side of Scappoose Bay, according to the NTSB. Both wings and the tail section of the airplane were found one mile northeast of there.
The wreckage was recovered from the accident site, Eckrote said. Investigators will reconstruct the plane and try to determine what caused it to crash.
The investigation could take up to six months.
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or
