2009 Montana Pilatus PC-12 crash

2009 Pilatus PC-12 crash

Pilatus PC-12 similar to accident aircraft
Accident summary
Date	March 22, 2009 (2009-03-22)
Type	Fuel icing leading to loss of control
Site	Butte, Montana, United States 45°57′5″N 112°30′8″W / 45.95139°N 112.50222°W / 45.95139; -112.50222Coordinates: 45°57′5″N 112°30′8″W / 45.95139°N 112.50222°W / 45.95139; -112.50222
Passengers	13
Crew	1
Fatalities	14
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Pilatus PC-12/45
Tail number	N128CM
Flight origin	Redlands Municipal Airport, Redlands, California
Destination	Bozeman, Montana

The 2009 Pilatus PC-12 crash occurred near Butte, Montana at approximately 14:32 local time (20:32 GMT) on March 22, 2009. All 14 people on board the single engine turboprop aircraft died when it crashed into a cemetery while on approach to Butte's Bert Mooney Airport.^[1] The passengers — three families of friends with their children, all under 10 — were flying to a ski vacation near Bozeman, Montana, but diverted to Butte while en route, for unknown reasons.^[2]

Aircraft

The accident aircraft was a Swiss-made Pilatus PC-12/45, FAA registration number N128CM, a single-engine turboprop which is certified for a maximum of nine passengers, or eleven people including the pilot and copilot.^[3][4][5][6] The aircraft was Pilatus construction number 403, built in 2001 and certified in September 2002. The registered owner was Eagle Cap Leasing, Inc. of Enterprise, Oregon, owned by the father of two of the passengers.^[7][8][9]

Flight

The pilot, Ellison "Bud" Summerfield, 65, of Highland, California, was a former US Air Force pilot, who had reportedly logged more than 8,500 civilian flight hours with more than 2,000 hours in the PC-12, and was well known to the passengers according to the aircraft's owner, "Bud" Feldkamp.^{[10][11][12][13][14]} The plane departed in the morning from Redlands Municipal Airport in Redlands, California, picked up two families at Nut Tree Airport in Vacaville and another family at Oroville Municipal Airport (KOVE) in Oroville.

The flight departed Oroville at 12:10 PDT as a 14 CFR Part 91 (personal flight) on an instrument flight rules flight plan and clearance for Bozeman, Montana's Gallatin Field, with Butte as the alternate.^[2] While cruising at FL250 (approximately 25,000 feet AMSL), the pilot requested and was subsequently cleared to divert to Butte, about 85 miles (135 km) northwest of Bozeman. The pilot did not provide a reason for the diversion.^[1]

The weather conditions in the area at the time of the crash were scattered clouds at 4,400 feet, with an overcast layer at 8,000 feet, visibility 10 miles, wind 10 knots from the northwest, and temperature 7 degrees C with a dew point of -3 C.^[1]

Crash

According to witnesses, the plane crashed into Holy Cross Cemetery 500 ft (150 m) from Bert Mooney Airport.^[4][15] The aircraft was destroyed, and all persons on board — seven adults and seven children under the age of 10 — died on impact with the ground. There were no casualties on the ground.^[1]

Onlookers who witnessed the plane nosedive into the cemetery rushed to help any injured, but "there was nothing to help".^[15] Photographs show towering orange flames from a burning coniferous tree, with smoke billowing up against a foreground of tombstones.^[15] Luggage and plane parts were strewn across the scene.^[16]

Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board announced on March 22 that they would send a Go Team of "approximately seven investigators" to the crash, led by chief investigator Dennis Hogenson.^[8]

Initial investigation revealed that just prior to the crash, the aircraft's flaps were up while its landing gear was down.^[17]

On May 6, 2009, Lee LaBreche, the coroner for Butte-Silver Bow County, Montana released an autopsy report on the pilot, stating that the pilot died of blunt force injuries. According to the report, there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in his body, and while he did appear to have "some heart disease," not enough heart tissue was available for examination and thus "the presence of a pathologic condition of the heart causing this accident cannot be excluded."^[18]

Full investigation completed in July 2011 - see external links below.

Victims

All fourteen passengers were killed on impact. Besides the pilot, Ellison "Bud" Summerfield, there were three families on board: six adults with their seven children. All the children were under ten years of age.

Irving M. "Bud" Feldkamp III, a dentist and one of seven owners of the plane, lost two daughters in the crash (Amy and Vanessa). They were also listed as "shareholders of the plane's registered owner, Eagle Cap Leasing of Enterprise, Ore."^[19] He is the owner of Hospitality Dental Associates and CEO of Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino, California.^[20]

The three families were:

• Erin Jacobson, an ophthalmologist; his wife, Amy Feldkamp Jacobson, a dental hygienist; and their three children, Taylor, Ava and Jude. They resided in St. Helena, California.

• Michael L. Pullen, a dentist; his wife, Vanessa Feldkamp Pullen, a pediatrician and Amy's sister; and their two children, Sydney and Christopher. They resided in Galt, California.

• Brent D. Ching, a dentist; his wife, Kristen Mautz Ching, a nurse, who was four months pregnant;^[21] and their two children, Hailey and Caleb. They resided in Durham, California.

All the adults had attended Pacific Union College and graduated from Loma Linda University, all educational institutions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, of which they were members.^[19][22]

Prior PC-12 accidents

The PC-12 had, by the end of 2007, only three previous fatal accidents in the US/Canada combined fleet of 556 aircraft after an estimated total of 1.39 million flight hours. One was a training error, while another was engaged in a round-the-world attempt. The only one in normal service occurred on March 26, 2005 in Pennsylvania, where six people on board perished when the plane crashed after experiencing a loss of control during the landing approach.^[23][24][25] In 2008, there was an additional fatal crash.^[26][27]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} NTSB preliminary report
2. ^ ^{a b} "Report: Pilot 'gave no reason' for seeking to divert plane ", CNN, April 2, 2009
3. ^ "Was 10-seat PC-12 That Crashed Legal with 14 Aboard?", AIN Online, March 26, 2009
4. ^ ^{a b} "'Children die' in US plane crash". BBC. 2009-03-22. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7958383.stm. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 
5. ^ "Type Certificate Data Sheet A.089 PC-12" (PDF). European Aviation Safety Agency. http://easa.europa.eu/ws_prod/c/doc/Design_Appro/Aircrafts/tcds%20a%20089%20pc12%20issue%203.pdf. 
6. ^ "Crashed US plane 'not certified to carry so many passengers'". Agence France Press. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/23/2524097.htm?section=world. 
7. ^ "Flight's diversion key issue in crash inquiry, NTSB says", CNN, March 24, 2009
8. ^ ^{a b} "NTSB Go Team heading to Montana to investigate plane crash". NTSB. March 22, 2009. http://www.ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2009/090322.html. Retrieved 2009-03-25. 
9. ^ "N128CM". Airport-data.com. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N128CM.html. Retrieved 2009-03-25. 
10. ^ "Onboard Device Could Offer Clue to Montana Crash", NYT, March 24, 2009
11. ^ "NTSB: 'No Working Theories' In PC-12 Crash Investigation", AVFlash News, March 25, 2009
12. ^ "In a flash, 3 families gone", Chicago Tribune, March 24, 2009
13. ^ "Ice Ruled Out as Culprit In Feb. Plane Crash", ABC News, March 25, 2009
14. ^ Kelly, David (March 23, 2009). "Nine members of same family were on Montana plane". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/03/---font-definit.html. Retrieved 2009-03-23. 
15. ^ ^{a b c} "At Least 17 Killed In Montana Plane Crash". Sky News. 2009-03-22. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Plane-Crash-In-Montana-Kills-At-Least-17-People/Article/200903415246913?f=rss. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 
16. ^ "FAA: 17 killed in Montana plane crash". CNN. 2009-03-22. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/03/22/montana.plane.crash/index.html. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 
17. ^ Murphy, Kim (March 25, 2009). "Crash probe focuses on decision to change landing sites". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-plane-crash25-2009mar25,0,4520983.story. 
18. ^ "Autopsy released in fatal Montana plane crash". The Associated Press. May 6, 2009. http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/health/index.ssf?/base/national-12/1241626843108160.xml&storylist=health. 
19. ^ ^{a b} Montana plane crash shatters 3 families. The Seattle Times, March 24, 2009. Accessed 2009-05-30. Archived 2009-07-31.
20. ^ Sad News for Glen Helen Family: Feldkamp Family Devastated by Montana Air Crash. Motocross Action Magazine, March 23, 2009. Accessed 2009-05-30. Archived 2009-07-31.
21. ^ Chico dentist, pregnant wife and two kids lost in plane crash embarked for vacation home. Chico Enterprise Record, March 24, 2009
22. ^ In U.S., three Adventist families are Montana plane crash victims. Adventist News Network, March 23, 2009. Nicely illustrated with pictures of the three families.
23. ^ Breiling Associates (2008). "Single turboprop aircraft accident analysis: US and Canadian fleet aircraft certification through 2007" (PDF). PilatusOwners.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. http://www.pilatusowners.com/imgs/breiling_apr_081.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-28. 
24. ^ "Few recognizable items at site of Montana crash". Associated Press. March 24, 2009. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMnaN41Es4Y1JwXhctI2gD3xGQ1wD974IQN83. 
25. ^ NTSB report on 2005 PC-12 crash
26. ^ "Plane crash kills S.F. man". Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Plane-crash-near-airport-kills-S-F--man. Retrieved 2009-05-30. 
27. ^ "NTSB report on fatal Pilatus N606SL crash in 2008". U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. June 25, 2009. http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/brief2.asp?ev_id=20081004X12042&ntsbno=DEN08FA162&akey=1. Retrieved 2009-07-19. 

External links

Full final report - http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2011/AAR1105.pdf

Brief final report - http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20090322X90442&key=1

• Flightaware status page for N128CM
• Actual picture of aircraft