What: Raleighwood Aviation LLC Lancair IVP-TP (built by Carlos Garza) Where: Boise Airport, Idaho When: Feb 03 2012, 8:58 a.m. Who: 1 fatality Why: Steve Appleton was flying an experimental Lancair IVP-TP. On his second flight, he took off, turned back to the airport. He contacted ATC and said ““321 Lima Charlie, I’d like to turn back in, and uhh, land. Coming back in.” and then crashed.
Safety Board investigator Zoe Keliher said “Appleton took off at about 8:46 a.m, got the plane five to 10 feet off the ground and landed again. He returned to the hangar, then took off again at 8:54 a.m.; he got to between 100 and 200 feet when, according to witnesses, the plane suddenly stopped, banked and fell to the ground.”
It crashed between two runways.In 2004, Appleton survived a crash that gave him a punctured lung, head injuries, ruptured disk and broken bone. This time, Appleton died at the scene. The plane was badly burned.
He was the CEO of Micron.
He had several planes which he flew frequently. (He has owned 20 planes.)
The four seat experimental plane is sold as a kit. This one was built by built by Carlos Garza.
On January 23, 2010, there was fog at the time of takeoff and visibility was a half-mile. Gary Bradford and his passenger Drago Strahija were killed when Bradford’s plane crashed in a neighborhood eight minutes from the Aurora Municipal Airport.
The Doyles, the family in whose yard the plane crashed are suing the pilot’s widow. On April 5, the Doyle family will face Gary Bradford’s estate in court.
Rita Bradford and her deceased husband owned ENS Corp., a Florida IT firm. At the time of the crash, he had owned the plane for three months after 98 hours of instrument experience, and 52 hours of flight instruction in seven days.
The meat of the suit is that the Doyles say the pilot did not properly inspect, maintain or know how to land the Cessna.
When the Cessna crashed in the Doyle’s yard, the plane did not strike the house, but debris started a fire in the north side of the garage.
What: Cenac Marine Services Robinson R-44 en route from Houma-Terrebonne Where: Belle Isle When: January 19, 2012 Who: 2 fatalities Why: After taking off from Houma-Terrebonne airport, the chopper crashed a few miles from East Bay and the Gulf of Mexico in a marshy area. Flames from the crash were seen from a distance. Hunters and fishermen in the area called 911 to report the helicopter afire. The crash claimed the lives of those aboard. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries assisted along with several agencies with search, rescue, and recovery.
Pilot Jason McKean, and Lanny Ledet had been on the way to an alligator-industry conference in Plaquemines Parish.
Jason McKean had been flying for twenty years. The bodies of the victims were recovered 13 miles southwest of Morgan City.
The cause of the crash is unknown. The FAA is investigating. Tje MTSB saod there was no indication that anything broke off the helicopter before the crash. The final report will not be due for another eighteen months.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 369TL Make/Model: R44 Description: R-44 Astro
Date: 01/19/2012 Time: 1555
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing:N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
City: BELLE ISLE State: LA Country: US
DESCRIPTION
N369TL ROBINSON R44 ROTORCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE 2
PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, NEAR BELLE ISLE, LA
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 2
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: 191255Z AUTO 00000KT 9SM OVC018 07/06 A3012
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: BATON ROUGE, LA (SW03) Entry date: 01/20/2012
What: Guardia Nacional Bolivariana Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP Where: La Uva, Isla de Coche, Venezuela When: Jan 30, 2012 Who: 4 fatalities Why: The Cessna crashed 180 miles from shore during a training flight. Captain José Vielma, Jhonatan Veroes Valencia, Joan Guillén, and Hernández Camacho died in the crash.
What: Condor Flying Club Inc Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee en route from Fredrick, Maryland. Where: Lincoln Highway West, Thomasville, PA When: Jan 29, 2012, 11:00 am Who: 1 fatality Why: The piper crashed in a cornfield off of Lincoln Highway, a mile from the airport. The pilot, Douglas Helms of Westminster Maryland was pronounced dead at the scene. Helms will be at Lehigh Valley Hospital. The cause of the crash is unknown. An investigation is underway. The vehicle is registered to CONDOR FLYING CLUB INC
Street 16192 COASTAL HWY.
What: De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth Where: Maryborough Airport on Leviathan Road, Australia When: Jan 27, 2012, 5pm. Who: 2 fatalities Why: After taking off, the plane hit trees at the end of the runway.
Witnesses described seeing a ball of flames, which ignited a field of dry grass. The grass required seven Country Fire Authority crews to extinguish it.
The two men aboard the vintage plane were John Fisher and David Oxley. In the past, John Fisher, who worked at Maryborough airport, had flown the Tiger Moth from England to Australia. He was the pilot and the owner of the plane.
The accident is under investigation by three investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
What: Cessna 210E Centurion Where: near Spruce Creek Airport, Daytona Beach When: Jan 25, 2012 Who: pilot Why: Just after taking off from Spruce Creek Airport on a test-flight to check his rebuilt engine, the rebuilt engine of pilot James Clarry’s Cessna quit. Eight minutes after takeoff, the plane nosedived and flipped near Port Orange at North Spruce Creek Circle and Tomoka Farms Road.
Clarry came out of it with minor injuries. No one else was aboard.
Volusa emergency services responded to the scene of the accident.
Clarry landed in the woods.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 7130U Make/Model: C210 Description: 210, T210, (Turbo)Centurion
Date: 01/25/2012 Time: 2040
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: PORT ORANGE State: FL Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, PORT ORANGE, FL
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0
WEATHER: VFR
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: ORLANDO, FL (SO15) Entry date: 01/26/2012
What: Yakovlev Yak-52TW Where: Feilding, New Zealand When: Jan 23 2012 10:45 a.m. Who: 2 fatalities Why: A plane left Taonui Aerodrome and twenty-five minutes later was engaging in acrobatics,when it flew upside down, made a loop and then crash dived on to the grounds of the Timona Recreational Reserve.
The plane shattered into a mangled mess in the Timona Park area park area. Witnesses heard a single crash. Disaster Victim Identification team is investigating.
The two men in the crash are well known, Dr Ralph Saxe, of Palmerston North, and Dr Brett Ireland, of Queensland. Dr Saxe co-owned the plane that crashed.
What: Cessna 177 Cardinal en route from Chicago to Madison Municipal Airport Where: S of County Road 600, near Dupont Indiana When: Jan 21, 2012 8:41 p.m Who: 2 fatalities Why: 55 year old Gregory L. Wehr and 55 year old Candace S. Wehr of Versailles, were flying from Chicago, when their Cessna crashed in a Jennings County field.
A witness saw a big ball of fire fall straight down and explode.
What: Cenac Marine Services Robinson R44 Raven II Where: Belle Isle area east of Wax Lake, LA When: Jan 19, 2012, 7:30 am Who: 2 aboard Why: A helicopter flying south of Morgan City crashed into a marsky area east of Wax Lake. Fishermen called 911 when they saw the burning wreckage.
The Cenac Marine Services helicopter crashed at 7:30 am, killing the two aboard.
In St. Mary Parish, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has four boats and six agents engaged in search, rescue and recovery. FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators will be arriving ASAP.
What: Beechcraft A36 Bonanza en route from Pontes e Lacerda to Santa Fé do Sul Where: Caceres, Brazil When: 14-JAN-2012, 8 am Who: 3 aboard, 3 fatalities Why: A plane piloted by Antonio Carlos Lopes do Amaral (Carlos Lopes Antonio Amaral) 57, former president of the Mato Grosso state legislature crashed in Mato Grosso in torrential rain, killing all three aboard. The crash site was a ranch located 12 miles from downtown Caceres, Site Sao Paulo, San Francisco community. Also killed were Vitório Quarentão and João Batista Paulo do Carmo.
Local witnesses heard the engine sputter or fail three times before it went into a tailspin and fell into a marshy area.
The wreckage shattered, and it appears that DNA testing will have to be used.
Amaral has sister in Caceres, businesswoman Maridalva Vignard Amaral, owns a radio station. The family said Amaral’s body and his friend Victor will be transferred to Santa Fe do Sul via plane and taken to counter Pontes e Lacerda.
A team from the Department of Civil Aviation will be arriving in Caceres to start investigating the cause of the accident. Amaral leaves a wife and three children. John was single.
The plane is registered to Air Martins School of Civil Aviation.
What: GT Gyroplanes Kruza Where: off Willis Road, near Mangalore Airport When: Jan 14, 2012, 12:30 Who: pilot and student aboard, 2 fatalities Why: A local pilot reported that the ultralight crashed, looking as if it came straight down and smashed up. The wreckage was found in a paddock in a field. No one witnessed the crash, but at 10:00 someone witnessed the chopper being buffeted by “gale force” winds.
The flight was discovered after it failed to return to the airport to pick up the next student.
The wreckage is in several pieces. The gyrocopter broke up on impact. It had normally been used for training exercises. The Mangalore airport is in Australia.
What: Cropspray Ltd. Westland (Aérospatiale) SA 341G Gazelle en route from Bath Where: Churchfields Industrial Estate in Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK When: Jan 10, 2012 09:40 GMT. Who: 3 aboard Why: When the chopper developed an engine problem, the pilot didn’t have much time to decide what to do..
Businesssman/pilot Andrew Ridings, said in an interview that he only had an instant to choose whether to fall into the river or a tree; he chose a “fuffy” tree, made a 180 degree turn and landed on it 8 feet from the river, and fell through. A local worker cleared a path for emergency services to make a prompt arrival.
Two of the injured were released from the hospital; one remains hospitalized with a back injury.
The The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) is investigating.
Two aboard were taken by Great Western Ambulance Service to Southampton General Hospital and one was taken by ambulance. All three made it safely out of the helicopter, suffering a variety of injuries.
What: Keystone Air Service Ltd.Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain en route from Winnipeg to Manitoba. Where: North Spirit Lake reserve, Ontario Canada When: Jan 10, 2012, 10:00 a.m. Who: 5 aboard, 4 fatalities Why: The Keystone Air Service two engines propellor driven aircraft went down half a mile from North Spirit Lake’s gravel runway. THe plane crashed on the lake and caught fire 500 metres from the airport. People from a nearby residence rushed to the plane and tried to put out the fire with snow until the snow became saturated with jet fuel. Then they attempted to cut through the ice to get water to douse the flames. There was no firefighting equipment and no rescue resources or emergency equipment, and the runway has no control tower.
Witnesses heard the plane making a “putt putt” noise as it circled.
The cause of the crash has not been pinpointed; the plane had no black box, but locals say there was a blinding white-out blizzard with no visibility when the plane crashed.
Three of the passengers aboard were employees of Aboriginal Strategies, Inc. The pilot was one of the four people were killed. One male survivor is injured. Martha Campbell, Ben Van Hoek, and Colette Eisinger are among the deceased.
The locator beacon went off at 10:30, alerting ATC and the NTSB that the plane went down. NAPS and the Ontario Provincial Police responded. ASI(Aboriginal Strategies, Inc.) is owned by Tataskweyak Cree Nation, of Split Lake. The small (400 member) community is devastated.
What: M & W Aviation LLC Cirrus SR22 GTS en route from Kendall-Tamiami Executive to Port au Prince Where: Off the coast of Andros, Bahamas When: Jan 7 2012, 1 pm Who: 2 aboard, no fatalities Why: After the Cirrus engine failed, a father and daughter from Birmingham Alabama on a humanitarian mission deployed the plane’s parachute and ended up in a raft in the sea after their airplane crashed two miles off the coast of the Bahamas.
After their distress call to ATC Miami Center of Aircraft Emergency at around 12: 15 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard sent a HC-144 Ocean Sentry on reconnaissance and located their raft. Richard McGlaughlin, 59, and Elaine McGlaughlin, 25 were retrieved from their inflatable onto a Jayhawk chopper.
What: Kyrgyzstan/Altyn Air Tupolev 134A-3 en route from Bishkek to Osh Where: Osh Airport, Kyrgyzstan When: 28 DEC 2011 Who: 6 crew, 82 passengers, 25 injured Why: After a hard landing in dense fog, the plane skidded off the runway, collapsing the right main gear, and flipped. As it rolled over, the right wing separated, and the ensuing fire was quickly contained by rescue services standing by. Passengers inside were hanging upside down, suspended by their seatbelts, but had to find a way to evacuate quickly, before the plane had a chance to explode. A fire occurred from a fuel leak in the remaining wing, but it was controlled.
The metar at the time of the landing was:
UAFO 280700Z 02002MPS 0300 R12/0550 FG VV001 00/00 Q1023 R12/19//50 TEMPO 0300 FZFG VV002 RMK QFE691/0922 BASE050M
Wind from 020 degrees at 2 m/sec; visibility 300m; on runway 12, touchdown zone visual range is 550m in fog; vertical visibility 100 m; pressure: 1023 hPa; temperature: 0°C.
Six crew members and nineteen passengers were hospitalized, but there were no fatalities reported. Nine children were aboard. The plane was evacuated.
Because of the incident, the airport (runway) was temporarily closed, and Osh-Bishkek flights are delayed.
Of the 25 reported injured and hospitalized, these have been identified: Rustamov A. b. 1977, Ismatova A. b. 1993, Turgunaliev Charles b.1960; and two injured, Mamatov A., born 1992, and Suyunbaeva A. 2011g.r. who are in a children’s hospital in Osh. The most seriously injured is a 19 year old girl.
What: Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 en route from Cyprus to Athens to Prague, Czech Republic Where: Athens When: Aug. 14, 2005 Who: 121 passengers Why: Before losing radio contract, pilots reported trouble with the air conditioning system. In the flight, cabin pressure failure knocked out the pilots. They made it to Athens, but the plane ran out of fuel and crashed. Crash video shows fire fighting planes controlling fires, bodies, baggage, airplane spread over a large debris field, the tail and engines relatively intact. At the time of the crash, except for one pilot (who was observed trying to land the plane), everyone aboard was comatose due to lack of oxygen.
In the case, prosecution failed to prove that German pilot Hans-Juergen Merten and his Cypriot co-pilot Charalambos Charalambous didn’t meet the minimum standards
A Cyprus court has acquitted four former airline officials of manslaughter charges.
In George’s Point of View
This court case is just another example of how long aviation cases, including the criminal cases of potentially/allegedly responsible parties, can drag on in court.
What: Cool Stream Media LLC Socata TBM700 C2 en route from Teterboro airport to Atlanta-Dekalb Peachtree Airport Where: Interstate 287 in Harding, NJ When: Dec 20, 2011, 10 am. Who: 5 aboard, 5 fatalities Why: After taking off from Teterboro airport en route to Atlanta-Dekalb Peachtree Airport, the pilot inquired about icing conditions, and shortly afterwards, crashed on I-287 in New Jersey. The plane came down on the median and broke up just outside of Morris township. One witness heard nothing but saw an explosion. Another witness smelled burning rubber and said it sounded like a wood chopper.
The plane lost contact with ATC just before the crash.
Aboard the flight were Jerry Buckalew, 45 and Rakesh Chawla (36) managing directors of Greenhill & Co Investment Banking Firm. Buckalew’s wife Corinne and two children Jackson and Meriwether and a dog were also aboard. Witnesses say the plane was spinning and flipping, then a wing came off and the plane went straight down. Buckalew owned the plane.
No cars were stuck but the plane’s right wing landed in a tree 400 yards from the crash site..
The pilot had gotten clearance to climb to 17,500 feet. ATC said there was “moderate rime” at 17000 feet. Another controller warned of extreme icing.
The debris field covered an area half a mile wide. The northbound late of I-287 was blocked a heap of burning charred metal.
What: US Army Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Where: SW training area of Joint Base Lewis-McChord When: Dec 12, 2011 Who: 2 occupants, 2 fatalities
What: US Army Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Where: SW training area of Joint Base Lewis-McChord When: Dec 12, 2011 8 pm Who: 2 occupants, 2 fatalities Why: Two two-seat reconnaissance “Scout”choppers crashed during routine exercises at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a few miles from Ranier Washington. Four individuals died in the event. Two were injured. It has not been released if the two injured were aboard, or if the choppers collided.
The remains were taken to Madigan Army Medical Center.
The debris field covered 300 meters. Military vehicles were securing the scene.
The Fort Rucker, Alabama Combat Readiness Center is coordinating the investigation, beginning with a six member team.
What: Aviation Technology Innovators Beechcraft 65-80 Queen Air en route from Manila to McGuire Field, San Jose, Mindoro. Where: Parañaque City, Philippines When: Dec 10, 2011 2 p.m. Who: 3 aboard, 11 on the ground Why: The first steps after a crash are those of the investigators whose job it is to examine the wreckage and determine the facts. This information will eventually be turned into an interim and a final report, which will stand as a record. Simultaneously, the records will be examined. Not only will the pilots’ recorded histories be searched and the level of their skill examined, but also the maintenance and ownership of Beechcraft 65-80 Queen Air RP-C824
Captains Timoteo Aldo and Jessie Kim Lustica died in the crash three minutes after takeoff.
Here is a big question: Where is Captain Fidel Hembrador who leased ATI for the repair, maintenance and hangar parking services for the plane?
My first thought takes me to wondering about the condition of the plane. (Maintenance! Maintenance! Maintenance!) My second is to wonder about the pilots’ experience. My third is a strong suggestion that people refrain from rebuilding so close to the airport. However, such an edict would mean it is the government’s responsibility to see that 600 displaced people get generous government assistance in the form of grants or compensation, providing the means for displaced families to establish domiciles elsewhere.
Below is the DEC 12 release from the Department of Transportation and Communications of the Philippines:
Secretary of Transportation and Communications Mar Roxas met with CAAP [Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines] officials today, and ordered a thorough investigation of the light aircraft incident that left 14 people dead on Saturday in Barangay Don Bosco, Paranaque City.
The officials discussed the liability of the owner of the light plane and take into effect a speedy, seven-day timeline for the submission of the investigation report.
CAAP director general Ramon Gutierrez reported that he constituted the Aircraft Accident Investigation Inquiry Board (AAIIB) headed by Captain Amado Soliven, Jr. to lead the panel. The panel will investigate why and how the Beechcraft Queen Air (RPC-834) eight-seater light plane plunged into the shanty town in Paranaque City, exploding on impact, and causing a fire that gutted a 2,000-square-meter section of the slum area.
Gutierrez also told the DOTC secretary the ill-fated aircraft submitted an official flight plan to the CAAP hours before the flight under the registry of Aviation Technologies Innovators, Inc. [ATI], a repair station/maintenance and hangar provider.
But CAAP investigators revealed that the plane had a certificate of registration under one Captain Fidel Hembrador, a private operator, who reportedly leased ATI for the repair, maintenance and hangar parking services for the said plane.
Hembrador has yet to surface following the incident last Saturday.
The CAAP reported that it had retrieved and secured the engines of the plane. CAAP investigators, with the assistance of the authorized repair station of the engine manufacturer (LYCOMING), are currently breaking down the engines to determine if a mechanical malfunction had occurred.
The CAAP had commandeered the aircraft record and logbooks, as well as summary records of the training experience of the crew.
“I have tasked the fact-finding panel to come up with a report and recommendations within the week,” said Secretary Roxas. “We will make sure that all facts of this unfortunate accident are investigated, the victims are duly compensated, and make sure that similar accidents do not happen in the future.”
Roxas added that the general aviation services is one sector that the DOTC intends to relocate to another site. “The objective is to decongest NAIA from small aircraft operations, so as not to comingle with commercial airline operations.”
The CAAP had recommended two potential transfer sites, Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas and Sangley Point in Cavite.
Both military facilities are military-owned. Roxas said the DOTC and the Department of National Defense will come up with a MOA that will govern the transfer, as well as the relocation of residents who will be displaced by the move.
What: Aviation Technology Innovators Beechcraft 65-80 Queen Air en route from Manila to McGuire Field, San Jose, Mindoro. Where: Parañaque City, Philippines When: Dec 10, 2011 2 p.m. Who: 3 aboard, 11 on the ground Why: After taking off from Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the pilot reported trouble to ATC, and was trying to return to the airport. The pilots, Timoteo Aldo and Jessie Kim Lustica, had been fetching a cargo of fish. A witness described the plane “twirling” in the air before impact.
The Beechcraft crashed into Felixberto Serrano Elementary school and exploded, killing the 3 aboard and 11 on the ground in Better Living Subdivision, Parañaque City. The specific location was Taiwan St., Barangay Don Bosco. School was not in session, but there had just been a Christmas party there. The F. Serrano Elementary School burned down; school for 2000 will be suspended on Monday as plans are made to send students to alternative schools.
Victims included children playing at the playground.
Twenty injured were taken to Parañaque Doctors Hospital and Parañaque Community Hospital along the South Luzon Expressway. The Philippine Red Cross was on the scene, reporting a number of burn victims.
50 domiciles on the subdivision’s easement were damaged. Residents were not called “squatters” but were described as informal settlers. Seventy families were evacuated–a total of 600 people evacuated.
A covered court inside the subdivision is being provided as temporary shelter for evacuees.
Maricel Rodriguez Garado, Ronald Sabidario were two adults reported as lost in the crash in addition to the two pilots. See Videos Below
What: Sundance Helicopters Aérospatiale AS-350B Where: Near Lake Mead, Nevada When: Dec 7 2011, 5 pm Who: 5 fatalities Why: Las Vegas police search and rescue team conformed that a luxury sunset tour of the Las Vegas Strip and Hoover Dam crashed into the River Mountains. The pilot Landon Nield of Las Vegas and four passengers were killed in the crash thirty miles from the Vegas strip were in a remote area. Officials airlifted to the crash site confirmed the condition of the victims. Recovery will continue Thursday after sunrise.
Sundance Helicopters of Las Vegas has had at least five accidents and has been the subject of 10 federal enforcement actions since 1994 but Nield had no history of accidents or violations.
Two of the passengers, tourists Delwin and Tamara Chapman of Utica, Kan were renewing their vows and celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.
Two of the victims, 28-year-old Lovish Bhanot and 26-year-old Anupama Bhola, were a couple of newlyweds from New Delhi, India.
The crash was reported by an employee of Alfred Merritt Smith water treatment facility who witnessed the event.
A 12-member team is being sent to investigate the crash.
In September of 2003, a Sundance Aerospatiale crashed Near Grand Canyon West Airport, Arizona.
NTSB LAUNCHING TEAM TO INVESTIGATE TOUR HELICOPTER ACCIDENT IN NEVADA
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a 12- member Go-Team to investigate the crash of a helicopter on a sight-seeing tour that occurred near Las Vegas at about 5:00 p.m. PT on Wednesday. Preliminary reports indicate that all five persons on board the helicopter were fatally injured.
Senior Air Safety Investigator Bill English will serve asInvestigator-in-Charge. Member Mark Rosekind is among those traveling to the site and will serve as principal spokesman during the on-scene phase of the investigation.
Peter Knudson is the public affairs officer accompanying the team; he may be reached on his cell phone at 202-557-1350.
What: Great Lakes Air Inc Piper PA-32-260 Cherokee Six en route from St. Ignace to Mackinac Island Where: Lake Huron shore, about three miles north of St. Ignace, northern Michigan When: Dec 3, 2011 Who: 2 fatalities Why: Thomas Phillips, 52, with homes in Kirkland and Mackinac Island, and Joseph Pann Jr., 29, of St. Ignace were killed in a piper crash in Michigan. From Mackinac County Airport at St. Ignace to the destination Mackinac Island Airport is 4.5 miles and should have taken six minutes, but the plane was reported missing and was later found 100 yards from shore. Search and rescue controllers were involved at 10:07 p.m after police called. No distress call was reported but the plane was tracked by the cellphone of one of the victims.
Phillips was general manager with Amazon Web Services.
What: Private Socata TB21 Trinidad TC en route from Durango to Aspen Where: Silverton, CO When: Dec 3 2011 Who: 4 aboard Why: Forty minutes after leaving Durango for a Christmas party in Snowmass Village., the plane crashed into mountains near Silverton Colorado. Hampered by inclement weather, searchers had to deal with nearly a foot of snow between Saturday and Sunday in the mountains at 11,000 above sea level.
The bodies of Jenna Rich and Tyler Black were found and recovered, and are headed for autopsy.
The search continues for two more bodies. The four adult passengers have all been reported as deceased. Three of those aboard were employees of Alpine Bank, and the fourth aboard was a spouse.
The debris field of the crash covers more than a mile.
Another victim is laid to rest in the ongoing saga of Air France Flight 447. This victim is neither Brazilian nor French. Among those whose remains were recently recovered and identified, Harpist Fatma Ceren Necipoglu was returned to Turkey on November 22, 2011, nearly two and a half years after the June 2009 crash of Air France Flight 447.
When she went to the Rio Harp Festival to perform two recitals, she never expected to be returning as a memory.
After a ceremony at Sisli’s Tesvikiye Mosque, Necipoglu was laid to rest. She was a 1999 graduate of the Department of Harp in Louisiana State University’s School of Music and piano and harp lecturer at the Anadolu University.
