2009 — March 22, Pilatus PC-12/45 Jet Private Plane Crash, Butte, MT — 14

— 14  Daily News. “Plane Crash in Montana Cemetery Kills 7 Kids, 14 People Total,” 3/23/2009

— 14  Lacagnina, Mark.  “Tipping Point.” Aero Safety World. Sep 2011, p. 14.

— 14  NTSB, AAR. Loss of Control…Pilatus PC-12/45…Butte, Montana…2009. 8-12-2011.

— 14  Planecrashinfo.com. “2009. Accident Details. Eagle Cap Leasing…Butte, MT, March 22.”

 

NTSB: “At approximately 3:00 pm MDT a Pilatus PC-12/45 (N128CM) crashed into Holy Cross Cemetery on approach to Bert Mooney Airport in Butte, Montana.”  (NTSB Advisory. “NTSB Go Team Heading to Montana to Investigate Plane Crash,” March 22, 2009)

 

NTSB: “On March 22, 2009, about 1432 mountain daylight time, a Pilatus PC-12/45, N128CM, was diverting to Bert Mooney Airport (BTM), Butte, Montana, when it crashed about 2,100 feet west of runway 33 at BTM. The pilot and the 13 airplane passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The airplane was owned by Eagle Cap Leasing of Enterprise, Oregon, and was operating as a personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight departed Oroville Municipal Airport, Oroville, California, on an instrument flight rules flight plan with a destination of Gallatin Field, Bozeman, Montana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

 

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was (1) the pilot’s failure to ensure that a fuel system icing inhibitor was added to the fuel before the flights on the day of the accident; (2) his failure to take appropriate remedial actions after a low fuel pressure state (resulting from icing within the fuel system) and a lateral fuel imbalance developed, including diverting to a suitable airport before the fuel imbalance became extreme; and (3) a loss of control while the pilot was maneuvering the left-wing-heavy airplane near the approach end of the runway.

 

“The safety issues discussed in this report address fuel system limitations, requirements for fuel filler placards, and guidance on fuel system icing prevention. Safety recommendations concerning these issues are addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency. Previous safety recommendations concerning crash protection for airplane occupants and flight recorder systems were addressed to the FAA.”  (NTSB, AAR. Loss of Control While Maneuvering Pilatus PC-12/45, N128CM Butte, Montana, March 22, 2009 (NTSB/AAR-11/05).

 

March 23, Daily News: “Fourteen people, including seven children, heading for a ski trip died Sunday when their single-engine plane crashed into a Montana graveyard and burst into a fireball, federal officials said.  The aircraft, a 2001 Pilatus PC-12 with the seating capacity of only eight, nosedived into the Holy Cross Cemetery in Butte, 500 feet short of the airport, officials said.  “All of a sudden the pilot lost control and went into a nosedive,” witness Kenny Gulick, 14, told The Montana Standard newspaper. “He couldn’t pull out in time and crashed into the trees of the cemetery.”

 

“Citing preliminary information, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said everyone killed in the 2:30 p.m. crash was aboard the plane. There were no reports of injuries on the ground.  The turboprop plane had taken off from the small northern California town of Oroville about 11 a.m. and was taking passengers on a Montana ski vacation, said FAA spokesman Mike Fergus.  “We think that it was probably a ski trip for the kids,” Fergus said.  According to a flight plan, the plane was headed to Bozeman, Mont., about 85 miles from Butte.  During the course of the 900-mile trip, the pilot canceled his flight plan and headed for Butte, Fergus said.  It was not immediately clear if the problems with the aircraft caused the pilot to divert from his original route.

 

“Witness Steve Guidoni said he and his wife rushed to the crash site after seeing the plane plummet from the sky and explode into a fireball that sent flames shooting above the trees of the cemetery.  “I looked to see if there was anybody I could pull out, but there wasn’t anything there. I couldn’t see anything,” he said. “There was some luggage strewn around … there was some plane parts.”   The plane originated from Redlands, near Los Angeles, and made a stop in Vacaville in the Bay Area, before heading to Oroville, according to the flight-tracking site FBOweb.com.” (Daily News. “Plane Crash in Montana Cemetery Kills 7 Kids, 14 People Total,” 3/23/2009)

 

LawyersandSettlements.com: “According to various reports the plane was leased by a number of families who shared a vacation property, and was presumably shuttling the passengers to a ski vacation. The flight is said to have originated in Redlands, California and had flown to Vacaville, where it remained on the ground for just under an hour.  From there, the Pilatus PC-12 took off for the short hop to Oroville, about 65 miles north of Sacramento. The plane took on no fuel at Oroville. It is here that many of the passengers exited the plane to stretch their legs and use the facilities.

“It was about 11 am Pacific time when the plane took off from Oroville for the presumed final leg of the journey, to Gallatin Field at Bozeman, Montana. The latter is about a dozen miles from the Bridger Bowl Ski Area in the Gallatin Mountains. However, the plane never made it to Bozeman. At one point the pilot abruptly abandoned his flight plan and diverted to Butte, about 75 miles west of Bozeman and closer.

“Why the pilot diverted may never be known. As the plane was a leased plane on a private flight and not a commercial enterprise, there was no black box on board monitoring the comments of the pilot. There is also no communications tower at Bert Mooney Airport at Butte, which is more of a self-serve facility with even self-serve fuelling capability….

 

“According to the FAA the doomed plane was registered to Eagle Cap Leasing of Enterprise, Oregon.” (LawyersandSettlements.com. “What Caused the Montana Plane Crash?” 3-23-2009.)

 

“The plane took off from Brown Field Municipal airport in San Diego on Saturday evening and flew to Redlands, Calif., about 100 miles north, said Rachel Laing, a spokeswoman for the city of San Diego.” (Chron.com. “Witness: Plane that Crashed in Mont. Jerked Wildly.” 23 Mar 2009.)

 

March 23, LA Times: “The plane manufacturer said it was built to transport nine passengers and two pilots.” (Los Angeles Times. “Plane in Fatal Montana Crash Had More Passengers than it was Designed to Carry.”  March 23, 2009.)

 

Planecrashinfo.com: “The plane crashed 500 feet short of the runway while attempting to land at Bert Mooney Airport. The plane took a nosedive and crashed near Holy Cross cemetery. The plane was carrying children and adults from California to a skiing vacation in Montana when it diverted from its planned destination of Bozeman to Butte.”  No survivors.

 

Sources

 

Daily News, New York. “Plane Crash in Montana Cemetery Kills 7 Kids, 14 People Total,” 3/23/2009.  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/03/22/2009-03-22_plane_crash_in_montana_cemetary_kills_se.html

 

Lacagnina, Mark. “Mistaken Identity.” AeroSafety World, Nov 2007, pp. 38-43. Accessed at:  http://flightsafety.org/asw/nov07/asw_nov07_p38-43.pdf

 

Los Angeles Times. “Plane in Fatal Montana Crash Had More Passengers Than it was Designed to Carry.”  3-23-2009. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-plane-crash24-2009mar24,0,4126507.story

 

National Transportation Safety Board. Aviation Accident Report. Loss of Control While Maneuvering Pilatus PC-12/45, N128CM Butte, Montana, March 22, 2009 (NTSB/AAR-11/05). Washington, DC: NTSB, Adopted 8-12-2011. At: http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2011/AAR1105.pdf

 

Planecrashinfo.com. “2009. Accident Details. Eagle Cap Leasing…Butte, MT, March 22, 2009.”  Accessed at: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/2009/2009-13.htm