Damage to Wellstone plane prevents early answers on cause

The NTSB's Frank Hilldrup said Monday the agency learned that one pilot who departed from the airport about 50 minutes after the crash reported slight icing after his plane entered cloud cover at about 1,000 feet...At the airport, local pilots expressed doubt. "There was little ice. It was normal. We see it all the time," said Don Sipola, a flight instructor with 25 years experience....Witnesses have said the plane seemed to be flying low and sounded like it might be in trouble. Investigators have said the plane's last known airspeed was 85 knots, close to stall speed.

NTSB: Damage Hampers Wellstone Crash Investigation

"There was little ice. It was normal. We see it all the time," said Don Sipola, a flight instructor with 25 years experience.

Investigators: Wellstone Plane Damage Delays Answers

Wellstone Replacement Will Be Identified Wednesday

Crash will put investigators to the test

Investigators working on NTSB Accident/Incident No. DCA03MA008 ...There were no survivors to interview. No witnesses saw the crash. The pilots didn't radio for help. The plane lacked a cockpit voice recorder. Before an NTSB investigator even arrives on the scene, though, the agency's probe has already started. Among other actions, it has ordered the preservation of tape recordings of air traffic control conversations and weather briefings. It has told the owner of the airplane and the companies that built it to collect every record they have on the plane and pilots.

Investigators: Wellstone plane was off course, making unstable descent

The aircraft carrying U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone was flying off course and making an unstable descent before slamming into a marshy, wooded area, investigators reported today.

Pilots say stall may have brought down Wellstone's plane

"Eighty-five knots is way, way too slow," said Tom Kirton, former chief flight instructor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla....Said U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who is a private pilot: "They should have been at 120 or 130 [knots]. That's the mystery: Why were they at 85 knots?"

Wellstone's plane gave no indication of trouble - Plane broke into pieces, caught fire

The path of the wreckage, about two miles southeast of the airport, suggested the pilot may have aborted the landing, Ulman said. He said the weather was overcast with light snow and a temperature of 31 but was well within the landing limits at the airport.

The Latest on the Plane Crash That Killed Sen. Paul Wellstone

Without a cockpit data recorder or voice recorder, officials investigating the crash of Senator Paul Wellstone's plane will likely have to rely more on witness accounts of the accident....One witness said, "I didn't see smoke or anything, but it was only a hundred feet above my house, and it did sound like he was backing off the throttle."

Lack of Cockpit Voice Recorder Might Hamper Investigation

Carol Carmody, the acting chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said in a news conference here that the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air A100 was not required to have a voice recorder under F.A.A. regulations, and was not equipped with one....Investigators today found both of the plane's engines, and said they showed blade damage suggesting that they were still running when the plane hit the ground....The main area of the impact was 300 feet by 190 feet, Ms. Carmody said, adding that there was evidence of an "extreme post-crash fire."...A man who lives near the crash site told investigators that he was watching television in his house when he heard a plane passing overhead. He said he came out of his house to see the plane "crabbing to the right" about 95 feet above his house, Ms. Carmody said. The man said he went back inside and less than a minute later felt an impact and heard what he described as a "loud shot," Ms. Carmody said.

Pilots were in good physical condition

Investigators still don't know what caused the plane carrying Sen. Paul Wellstone... but they have ruled out physical problems with the pilots and one important piece of equipment...The landing gear also appeared to be down, but the locking mechanism was too damaged by fire to determine whether it had locked in place...(A) pilot who landed a slightly larger twin-engine plane at the airport on Friday, a couple of hours before Wellstone's plane crashed, said in an interview that he experienced no significant weather problems....Veteran pilot Ray Juntunen said there was very light ice, but "nothing to be alarmed about. It shouldn't have been a problem.''...An overnight UPS pilot for Bemidji Aviation, Juntunen flies between Minneapolis and Eveleth five days a week. He described Friday's trip as uneventful.He said he ran into moderate icing conditions at 10,000 feet and requested permission to drop to 5,000. At that altitude, he had only light icing. When he dropped to 3,400 feet to begin his approach, "the ice slid off the windshield,'' he said....and another pilot landed a half-hour later and told him the clouds were a little lower, but still not bad...Friday's flight was co-pilot Michael Guess' first with Wellstone.

US SENATE HONORS SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE

Bad weather and a broken navigation device could be to blame for Friday's plane crash that killed Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife, daughter and five others. Investigators in Northeastern Minnesota are also looking at the landing gear as a possible cause.

Weather, landing system are potential causes of crash

It will take investigators months to rule on why Sen. Paul Wellstone's plane crashed, but aviation experts say poor weather and the limited instrument landing system at the Eveleth airport were potential factors...Traci Chacich: ``It was a little bit foggy, but nothing to speak of ''

Weather, landing system are suspected causes

Addis, who has flown every model of the King Air produced, said the plane is "fully capable of handling these types of conditions."... He described the airplane as a workhorse in the business aviation community. "They built lots of them, and they have been on the market for years and years and are absolutely excellent."...The aircraft involved in Friday's accident was serial number B-245, and rolled off Beech's assembly line in 1979. Between then and 1985, it was bought and sold five times....National Transportation Board records show just two fatal accidents involving the planes in the past six years, and those crashes occurred 11 days apart in December 1997....But both accidents bear some eerie similarities to Friday's accident. Both involved experienced pilots who crashed while trying to make Instrument Landing System (ILS) approaches in heavy fog....The plane carrying Wellstone had only two reports of problems in its history, according to the FAA. Both were in March 1996 and were problems with worn fuel cutoff levers that were replaced with the recommendation for more frequent inspections.

NOAA weather reports.
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=212421&group=webcast

Investigation of Wellstone crash focuses on ice

The investigation into the plane crash that killed Senator Paul Wellstone is probably zeroing in on possible icing on the aircraft....The Pioneer Press reports that the investigation is turning away from an initial focus on the troubled past of chief pilot Richard Conry. It's been found that Conry moonlighted at a second job and had a felony fraud conviction....Investigators are also learning that Conry may have been tired.

Report on Wellstone crash finds no mechanical failure

Federal investigators will continue looking at icing as a potential cause of the plane crash..."no evidence of pre-impact engine or propeller failure was found," the report said. Investigators say Wellstone's plane made an abrupt right turn as it made its runway approach. Paul Czysz, professor emeritus of aerospace engineering at St. Louis University, said that indicates one wing probably had ice on it, causing the sudden movement....Toxicological reports revealed no evidence of drug or alcohol abuse by pilot Richard Conry or the first officer, Michael Guess. The NTSB said based on radio transmissions it believes Conry was at the controls at the time of the crash.

Key clues lost in Wellstone crash

De-icing equipment on the King Air turboprop was so badly damaged that investigators haven't been able to determine whether it was in use at the time of the crash, said Frank Hilldrup, a lead investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, in a news conference Monday....The nose landing gear was too damaged to determine if it had been deployed, Hilldrup said. And while the rear landing gear appeared to have been lowered, the locking mechanism was so damaged that investigators can't tell if the wheels had been locked into place for a landing, he said.... The plane was not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder -- making analysis of the debris even more vital to determine the cause of the crash....Investigators have previously said that damage to the plane's propellers indicates that its engines were in operation at the time of the crash. However, Hilldrup said it is possible for a plane to stall with its engines running.

 NTSB to release report on Wellstone crash on Friday

The NTSB said it will contain investigative reports in the areas of operations and human performance, aircraft performance, air traffic control, meteorology, survival factors and power plants.

Wellstone crash documents released

A pilot who died in the crash that killed Sen. Paul Wellstone near a Minnesota airfield last year had considered canceling the flight because of the weather, according to information made public Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board....The pilots on the chartered plane did not report icing during the flight, but air traffic controllers in Duluth said other planes in the area had moderate to light rime icing that morning, according to transcripts released as part of the report....The report hinted at other possible causes, including inaccurate navigational aids and human error.