Investigators are looking at a pilot's decision to divert his plane to a different airport shortly before it crashed as a potentially crucial factor in determining the cause of Sunday's plane crash in Butte.
Flying at 25,000 feet, pilot Buddy Summerfield requested the diversion from Bozeman to Butte just half an hour before the single-engine Pilatus PC-12 nose-dived into the Holy Cross Cemetery about ½ to ¾ miles west of the runway at the Bert Mooney Airport at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Fourteen people, including seven children under the age of 10, were killed in the crash. The passengers included three California families who were traveling to the Yellowstone Club for a ski vacation and the plane's pilot.
Why the plane diverted is at the forefront of an investigation National Transportation Safety Board, acting chairman Mark Rosenker said.
The investigation has been hampered be the plane's lack of a cockpit voice recorder or data recorder.
That unknown reason combined with other circumstances makes this investigation more difficult than most others officials have come across.
"I wish we had some really good working theories. Many times in the investigations that we look at, we can begin with a series of working theories. In this particular one, nothing is off the table yet," Rosenker said.
Investigators are weighing luggage that was onboard the plane that may have contributed to the plane being beyond its weight capacity.
"We may have some additional information from some of the avionics that we have begun to recover. We may have to take some chips off of the PC boards to try to read out, if they have not been damaged, what kind of information we may find," Rosenker said.
The NTSB may subpoena cell phone records of the victims to see if they could provide further clues, Rosenker said.
Investigators are also looking at whether ice on the wings may have caused the plane to crash.
The plane was in the air for nearly 2.5 hours before going down. The Pilatus PC-12 initially took off in Redlands, California Sunday morning before touching down in Oroville, which is about 70 miles north of Sacramento.
The flight plan from there showed its destination as Bozeman. The aircraft was initially tracked north out of Oakland, before switching to radar out of Salt Lake City for the rest of the flight.
The plane was scheduled to land in Bozeman shortly after 3 p.m., but as it crossed the mountains south of Salmon, Idaho, it diverted northeast to Butte where it crashed in a cemetery, just 500 feet from the runway at Bert Mooney Airport.
Holy Cross Cemetery remains closed to the public and Sheriff John Walsh said police are still working around the clock to keep it secure.
"We've scaled back perimeter numbers, but we still have perimeter control. We'll stay as long as the NTSB determines we're not necessary, most likely the end of the week I'm guessing," Walsh said.
A debriefing session will be held for police officers and emergency responders who were first on the scene to help them deal with what they saw moments after the plane crashed, Walsh said.
"They'll be given an opportunity to get their feelings out. It's going to be a closed process, no one allowed inside but the responders and the counselors themselves," he said.
About 100 people will attend the session later this week, Walsh added.
Investigators are now looking at whether ice on the wings may have caused the crash of a single-engine turboprop plane Sunday into a cemetery in Butte.
In the meantime, officials say they've recovered the bodies of all 14 people who died in the crash, so now the next job is to gather what remains of the plane and determine why it crashed.
Investigators have had to deal with a combination of snow and wind, making things very difficult for the crews.
Since the crash, on and off snow, cold temperatures and steady winds have hampered the investigation efforts. Now, more bad weather is on the way, so investigators are moving quickly to wrap up.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board say most of the wreckage should be moved off site by the end of the week.
"We will move it to a hangar in Montana for a more detailed examination" said NTSB spokesman Mark Rosenker.
The weather may have played a role in the crash as investigators are now looking at the possibility that wet clouds and freezing temperatures less than 2,000 feet above Butte's airport could have caused icing which eventually lead to the fatal crash.
"We will be looking at everything as it relates to the weather," Rosenker said. "We have a team which will be examining the weather records and any type of potential of weather which in fact could have influenced the performance of the aircraft."
Investigators say that pilot Buddy Summerfield, 65, was a former U.S. Air Force pilot with thousands of flight hours piloting civilian aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board also says that the pilot's decision to divert the flight to Butte from Bozeman should not have created problems, because that was the original backup plan.
Officials are planning to hold another press briefing about the fatal accident at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The plane was in the air for nearly 2.5 hours before going down. The Pilatus PC-12 initially took off in Redlands, California Sunday morning before touching down in Oroville, which is about 70 miles north of Sacramento.
The flight plan from there showed its destination as Bozeman. The aircraft was initially tracked north out of Oakland, before switching to radar out of Salt Lake City for the rest of the flight.
The plane was scheduled to land in Bozeman shortly after 3 p.m., but as it crossed the mountains south of Salmon, Idaho, it diverted northeast to Butte where it crashed in a cemetery, just 500 feet from the runway at Bert Mooney Airport.
- Shane Ewing reporting from KXLF in Butte
(from March 23, 2009)
The pilot of a single-engine Pilatus PC-12 that crashed in a Butte cemetery Sunday was a former Air Force pilot who had also logged 8,500 hours of civilian flight time.
Fourteen people on their way to a ski trip were killed when the single-engine Pilatus PC-12 aircraft crashed in the Holy Cross Cemetery about ½ to ¾ miles west of the runway at the Bert Mooney Airport at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
The plane was originally supposed to land in Bozeman but diverted to Butte's Bert Mooney Airport for unknown reasons.
Buddy Summerfield was identified as the pilot by the Associated Press. His decision to divert the flight to Butte from Bozeman should not have created problems because that was the original backup plan, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
New information about the plane, pilot and other details about the flight were released at a press conference Monday afternoon.
"Every day we make progress in this investigation. We've only been on the ground now 15, 18 hours and we've learned a great deal," said Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Rosenker said the 65-year-old pilot had a "substantial amount of (flight) time."
The plane that crashed typically has the capability for 11 people, two in the cockpit and nine in the cabin. However, this particular aircraft with executive-style seating had only 10 seats - two in the cockpit and eight in the cabin, Rosenker said.
Despite the additional people, Rosenker said he did not want people jumping to the conclusion that the amount of people on the flight caused the crash. Several factors will be looked at during the investigation, including maintenance records, pilot's records, weights of passengers and where they were sitting, he said.
The victims of a Montana plane crash were three California families traveling to the Yellowstone Club for a skiing vacation, the Associated Press is reporting.
Bud Feldkamp, who leased the airplane that crashed Sunday in Butte, said he and his wife lost two daughters and their families, while club member Bob Ching and his wife lost a son and his family, according to the AP.
Buddy Feldkamp said the victims included his sisters Amy Jacobson of St. Helena, Calif., and Vanessa Pullen of Lodi, Calif. Jacobson's husband, Erin, and their children Taylor, 4; Ava, 3; Jude, 1, also died in the crash as did Pullen's husband, Michael, and their children Sydney, 9, and Christopher, 7.
Ching's son, Brent, of Durham, Calif., was killed in the crash along with his wife, Kristen and their children, Heyley, 5 and Caleb, 4.
Some of the victims' family members visited the site Monday.
Rosenker said he believes all remains will be taken from site Monday.
If weather and logistics cooperate, authorities plan to have the aircraft wreckage recovery completed by Friday. It will then be moved to hanger in Montana for further investigation.
The plane departed Redlands, Calif., stopped in Vacaville, Calif. where it fueled up before traveling to Oroville, Calif. then heading to Montana.
"There is no reason to believe that it ran out of gas," Rosenker said.
Another press conference on the crash is expected to be held Tuesday.
The victims of a Montana plane crash were three California families who were traveling to the Yellowstone Club for a skiing vacation according to the Associated Press.
The AP reports that Bud Feldkamp, who leased the airplane that crashed Sunday in Butte, said he and his wife lost two daughters and their families, while club member Bob Ching and his wife lost a son and his family.
Feldkamp said the victims included his sisters Amy Jacobson of St. Helena, Calif., and Vanessa Pullen of Lodi, Calif. Jacobson's husband, Erin, and their children Taylor, 4; Ava, 3; Jude, 1, also died in the crash as did Pullen's husband, Michael, and their children Sydney, 9, and Christopher, 7.
Ching's son, Brent, of Durham, Calif., was killed in the crash along with his wife, Kristen and their children, Heyley, 5 and Caleb, 4.
One day after a single engine turboprop airplane nose-dived into a Butte graveyard, killing 14 people on their way to Montana for a ski trip, authorities are trying to piece together what caused the pilot to divert the flight from Bozeman to Butte.
The single-engine Pilatus PC-12 aircraft crashed in the Holy Cross Cemetery about 500 feet from the Bert Mooney Airport at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
"At this point, there is nothing for us to understand why he made this decision to divert," a National Transportation Safety Board official said at a Monday morning press conference. Another press conference is expected to be held this afternoon where officials hope to release more information about the flight.
Investigators will also be looking into whether the plane, which is configured for two pilots and nine passengers, was overloaded. The plane was carrying seven adults, including the pilot, and seven minors.
There are several factors that will be considered when looking at whether the plane was overloaded, including the weight of the passengers, fuel, luggage and cargo, a NTSB official said Monday.
"There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered before we do any analysis," he said. "We don't know the ages yet, so we're going to have to try to understand how and why there were an additional three people on board."
The plane departed Redlands, Calif., stopped in Vacaville, Calif. where it reportedly picked up passengers, then traveled to Oroville, Calif. where it reportedly picked up more passengers. The plane was supposed to fly to Bozeman but diverted to Butte.
Although the pilot contacted air traffic control to report the change of course, he did not give a reason, according to the NTSB.
"At this point there is nothing for us to understand why he made this decision to divert," the NTSB official said.
Authorities will look at Sunday's weather conditions. They will also be talking to family members to get better idea who boarded the plane at various stops.
Because there was no flight data recorder and no survivors to provide additional information the investigation could take several months, according to the NTSB official.
While authorities at the press conference did not identify any of the victims, the AP is reporting the victims' identities and the Yellowstone Club issued a statement Monday afternoon.
"The entire Yellowstone Club community is shocked and deeply saddened by this tragic accident. The Ching family is one of the founding members of the club and they are admired by their fellow members for their tremendous spirit and commitment to family. Words cannot express our sadness for their loss and we are doing everything possible to assist the Ching family during this difficult time," club management said in a press release.
This was the worst plane crash in the U.S. since a commuter plane last month fell on a house in a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y., killing all 49 passengers and a man in the home.
Prior to the Buffalo crash, there hadn't been a fatal accident involving a commercial airliner in the U.S. in more than two years.
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer released a statement after attending Monday morning's press conference in Butte.
"Nancy and I send our thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by this tragedy - the families of those who were lost as well as the Butte community. I would like to thank all the first responders for their dedication and hard work. My prayers are with them as they deal with this very difficult situation."
Photo from CNN
(from March 22, 2009)
Officials confirmed Sunday night that there are no survivors following a Sunday afternoon plane crash in Butte.
The site of the plane crash is in the Holy Cross Cemetery, which is next to the Bert Mooney Airport in Butte.
Officials spent Sunday on the scene securing the site. Very few details were released at Sunday night's press briefing at the airport.
But NTSB Air Safety Investigator Kristi Dunks said, "We're still gathering the operation of the aircraft, its purpose, what they were doing, where they were going. And again hopefully tomorrow (Monday) we'll have more of that exactly who was on board".
The crash occurred at 2:30 in the Holy Cross Cemetery. The flight originated out of California with a destination of Bozeman, but there's no information at this time as to why the pilot or the aircraft detoured to Butte.
There are no survivors of the crash, and also no confirmation on the numbers of those killed.
The bodies will remain at the scene for the night and be removed sometime on Monday. Some of the family members have been notified.
We are told that the aircraft does not contain a black box and that it is a noncommercial plane.
A NTSB Team is expected to arrive tonight from Washington D.C. And a press briefing will be held in the morning.
