Intense Fire Followed Wellstone Crash

Wellstone hated to fly, especially in small planes often used by politicians to fly to every corner of their states. His wife, Sheila, hated to fly, too. Wellstone once told an audience he had a bad feeling about the couple flying in a small plane together.

N-T-S-B on way to Wellstone crash site

The F-B-I is at the scene already, while the National Transportation Safety Board team is en route.... F-B-I Agent Paul McCabe says the plane burned after it crashed, so the fuselage suffered a lot of damage.

Crash investigation began at dawn today

Carol Carmody, acting chairman of the NTSB, said investigators would be searching for the cockpit voice recorder as they sought to determine what happened.
"It's too early to rule anything out or anything in," she said.

Team Seeks Clues to Wellstone Crash

The senator was on his way to attend the funeral of a state representative's father when the twin-engine private plane went down about 10 a.m. in freezing rain and light snow ... The death brought an outpouring of grief from both supporters and opponents of the 58-year-old Wellstone, one of the foremost liberals on Capitol Hill. In St. Paul, thousands of mourners stood in a cold rain to pay tribute at the Capitol and outside the senator's headquarters. Many wept.

Wellstone crash site being combed

A team of investigators from the NTSB is expected to remain at the site where Senator Paul Wellstone's plane crashed yesterday. It could take months before they have answers to questions about why the chartered twin-engine plane went down.

NTSB Seeks Clues to Wellstone Crash

A 16-member team from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived Friday night, and acting chairwoman Carol Carmody said the first priority was finding the cockpit voice recorder. ...FBI spokesman Paul McCabe said there was no indication the crash was related to terrorism.

NTSB Seeks Wellstone Cockpit Tape

The National Weather Service had issued an advisory to pilots that morning that icing was possible, and the airport's assistant manager, Gary Ulman, said the wreckage was not on the usual approach to the runway, suggesting the pilot might have aborted the landing.

Investigators examine site of Wellstone plane crash for clues

Federal investigators sifting through the crash site say there's no obvious cause. But they still didn't know why the plane was heading south, away from the Eveleth airport when it crashed into the heavily forested area about two-and-a-half miles away.

Relatives visit Wellstone plane crash site

Crews took 17 family members through a marshy, wooded area to the site, where they stayed for about a half-hour. Authorities said the relatives would not be made available to the media....Carol Carmody said the FAA tested the airport's VOR, which pilots use to navigate, and found it "slightly out of tolerance."...Megen Williams, who lives near the crash site, said she heard the plane overhead and thought the engine stopped before the crash. "It was dead silent for a split second then it started up soft and got louder and then I heard the explosion," she said....There was evidence of an intense post-crash fire," Carmody said. "The fuselage was destroyed. The cockpit was gone. The left wing was badly burned. The right wing was severely damaged, and the tail was two-thirds intact."

King Air B200
http://www.brasjet.com/King_Air_B200/king_air_b200.html

King Air Planes Are Charter Favorite