December 2005 Deadly Crash Questions FAA Actions
What started out as a
father taking his daughter and two of her friends for a ride in his
Cessna 195 turned tragic on December 18, 2005, when the aircraft
found itself in IFR weather and needing assistance from air traffic
controllers.
The four people on board included Gary Tillman, his daughter
Hannah, and two of her friends, as ANN reported.
Rescue crews brought the two friends to safety. One survived,
the other later died. Crews found the bodies of Tillman and his
daughter two weeks later in the wreckage.
It's been a tough year for us you know," says Earl Tillman, Gary
Tillman's father, to First Coast News.
He said his son was an excellent pilot and most likely would be
alive today if the FAA had followed through with his son's
request.
Which brings us to the lawsuit filed by the Tillman family last
week. According to the suit, Tillman could not see out of the
cockpit due to poor visibility and had to use aircraft instruments
and help from FAA controllers.
ANN reported the transcript released
by Atlanta's WSB-TV as follows:
- TOWER: Nover 22 Lima your Mode C appears to be
intermittent.
- TILLMAN: OK, 22 Lima this moisture causes strange things no
doubt.
- TOWER: OK, I'm just letting you know. What altitude are you
leaving.
- TILLMAN: Climbing through four thousand four hundred.
- TOWER: Thank you.
Moments later...
- TILLMAN: Two, two Lima, we just lost an engine here. Two, Two
Lima, we need a vector for the beach if possible.
- TOWER: Say it again, sir.
- TILLMAN: Two, two lima, we, ah our engine just started running
rough, we need a vector if possible.
- TOWER: Yes sir. Are you able to maintain altitude? If you're
not, I'll vector you right in on the localizer and nice little
glide rate.
- TILLMAN: I'm unable to maintain altitude.
- TOWER: Number of souls on board?
- TILLMAN: Four souls.
- TOWER: Nover two, two lima, your position is three miles east
of the airport as you break out, turn right two seven zero.
- TILLMAN: See, I'm heading to heading of two seven zero. We're
over the water, we're not going to make it.
- TILLMAN: Send some help, we're going in the drink. (This was
the last transmission from Tillman.)
- TOWER: Alright, we're coming out. We'll send folks out to
you.
- TOWER: Two, two lima just crashed, we believe, in the ocean
down in St. Augustine, so any new information you might have
starting putting it together.
Tillman had filed an IFR flight
plan from Craig Municipal Airport in Jacksonville, FL, to St. Lucie
County International Airport in Fort Pierce.
The lawsuit claims, "The FAA directed Mr. Tillman to fly over
the ocean." While over the ocean, the "engine began to lose
power."
"He asked the controller to steer him to the beach to safety,
and instead of doing that they turned him out over the water for
reasons we'll never understand," said Woody Wilner, who represents
the family.
Wilner said that instead of steering Tillman to the beach, the
FAA sent him on a path over the water towards the St. Augustine
Airport.
"They had a duty to bring him back and did not do that," said
Wilner.
According to the lawsuit, the FAA failed to tell Tillman the
course controllers had him on would keep him over the water and
"not lead him to the beach."
The lawsuit also claims the FAA knew Tillman was "unable to
maintain altitude" and would need help yet, "failed to notify the
United States Coast Guard to begin rescue attempts."
"In my heart when he asked for vectors to the beach and could
have gotten that, he would have had a successful landing," said his
father
The FAA declined to comment on the case because it is pending
litigation