Posted on Sat, Oct. 26, 2002

Investigators: Wellstone plane was off course, making unstable descent

BY TODD NELSON
Pioneer Press
EVELETH, Minn.

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.

An eyewitness also gave his account to investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, which spent the day combing the site for evidence of what caused the Friday morning crash that killed Wellstone, his wife, Sheila, daughter Marcia, three campaign aides and two pilots.
The chartered plane's twin engines were louder than those he normally hears flying over his house, the witness said.

"He looked out his window and says that he looked up and saw the bottom and the two wings go by," Carol Carmody, acting NTSB chairwoman, said of the witness, who had been watching television when the engine noise attracted his attention. The plane crashed about two miles from the house.

"He went back to watching television and within a minute, less than a minute, he heard an impact, felt an impact, and heard what he called a loud shot," Carmody said. "He thought it might have been a rifle or something." The witness also reported that the plane was "crabbing" to its right, moving forward and sideways at the same time.

The death of the feisty 58-year-old Democrat from Minnesota shocked the United States and brought a massive outpouring of sympathy and reaction. Many Minnesotans cried when the news broke.

As always, Wellstone was with his wife, Sheila, 58, who was at his side every step of his political career. Their daughter, Marcia, 33, also died in the crash. The others killed were campaign aides Will McLaughlin, 23, Tom Lapic, 49, and Mary McEvoy, 49, and pilots Richard Conry, 55, and Michael Guess, 30.

Carmody said investigators were still months from determining what caused the crash. She said the plane also appeared to be descending at a steep angle and heading south. The runway it was to have landed on runs east-west.

In their first extensive view of the scene today, investigators found a relatively compact area of debris, a heavily damaged aircraft and signs of an intense post-crash fire.

"The NTSB certainly at this stage is in the fact-only business," Carmody said. "We're going to tell you what we have found and what we have observed. I'm not going to analyze and I'm not going to speculate. The analysis stage and the findings and the cause and the determination will come much later."

The area of impact, Carmody said, measure about 300 feet by 190 feet, and is on some elevated ground surrounded by marsh, mud, trees and underbrush that forced investigators to ride half-track vehicles she referred to as "tanks" to reach.

The impact destroyed the fuselage and the cockpit, Carmody said. The left wing was badly burned and the right heavily damaged. About two-thirds of the tail section was intact.

As it made its approach to the airport, the aircraft's nose was not at all aligned with the center of the east-west runway where it was to land, Carmody said.

"It appears to be headed south and it was about 90 degrees off what would be a routine approach," Carmody said. "We don't know why this is."

A review of the area by helicopter revealed a pattern of tree damage beginning about 150 feet from the impact site, Carmody said. The tree damage suggested that the plane's angle of descent "was steeper than what would be expected in a normal standardized, stabilized approach," she said.
"There were some that were damaged and then more damaged and more," Carmody said of the trees. "Some of the trees were damaged up high and then it got lower and lower as you got down to the site. So something - whether it was the aircraft or the propellers - something struck the trees."
Damage to the propeller blades on both engines suggests they were running when the plane crashed, but investigators do not know whether they were at full power.

Contrary to initial reports, the aircraft did not have a cockpit voice recorder and was not required to by FAA regulations, Carmody said.

Investigators likely will spend three to five more days at the site gathering evidence, Carmody said, before returning to Washington to continue their analysis.

All of the bodies were removed by midafternoon today, and the medical examiners were to complete their work Sunday.

Carmody said it was too soon to determine whether aircraft icing had contributed to the crash. Investigators are reviewing weather data and looking for valves and cockpit switches that might indicate whether the pilots had tried to de-ice the aircraft while in flight.

One of Wellstone's two sons visited the crash site Friday night after meeting with the St. Louis County sheriff, Carmody said. The NTSB will arrange visits for other families members who want them, possibly Sunday. She declined to identify which of Wellstone's sons made the visit.

"We've found through the sad experience we've had with accidents over the years that family members do like to go and see where their loved ones died," Carmody said. "It gives them a sort of closure, it gives them a degree of peace. It's a difficult thing to do. But most of them find it useful and most of them want to go. For those who want to go we make it possible. We always do it as soon as we reasonably can."

Investigators were reviewing National Weather Service records to determine if the weather was a factor in the crash but had drawn no conclusions, Carmody said.

The weather conditions at the time were reported to include freezing rain and light snow. The National Weather Service had issued an advisory to pilots that occasional moderate icing conditions were possible in the area.

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