Tue, Jun 03, 2008
Portland Crash Claimed Three, Including 12-Year-Old Boy
Almost one year after
the fatal downing of a Lancair IV Propjet in a southwest Portland,
OR neighborhood, the National Transportation Safety Board admitted
last week investigators may never know what caused the aircraft to
crash in IFR conditions.
As ANN reported, the aircraft
departed Portland-Hillsboro Airport at 0854 the morning of June 15,
2007 bound for Twin Falls, ID on an instrument flight plan. The
accident claimed the lives of pilot William Shepard, his wife
Jeannine, and their 12-year-old grandson Benjamin.
The couple was taking their grandson to a space camp in Kansas
when the accident occurred, reports The Oregonian. Witnesses saw
the plane emerge from clouds in a nose-down attitude, at a high
rate of speed, prior to impact. "The witness estimated his distance
from the impact site at 200 yards and reported the weather was "low
clouds, marginal visibility and light rain," the NTSB added.
Stating the severity of impact damage precluded determining
whether the aircraft suffered a loss of control, or other
mechanical or systems failure, the NTSB said there were no other
clues as to why the plane crashed.
"(T)he engine and propeller were buried about 3 feet deep in an
impact crater," the report said. "A debris field extended at least
25 to 60 feet beyond the impact point in all directions. No
evidence of an in-flight breakup was found. All observed aircraft
components had sustained severe impact damage. ... All cockpit
instruments and avionics were destroyed. Examination of the
wreckage revealed no obvious indications of mechanical malfunction
or failure."
The NTSB added no evidence of narcotics were found in the
pilot's system, and Shepard had nearly 1,400 hours in the accident
plane... including 158 hours filed IFR. Shepard had also passed an
IFR recurrency exam and flight review five months prior to the
crash.
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