October 2007 Downing Near White Pass, WA Claimed 10

The attorney representing the families of nine skydivers killed when their Cessna 208B Grand Caravan crashed near White Pass, WA in October 2007 says the plane performs poorly in icing conditions... and moreover, that both Cessna and Goodrich, maker of the deicing system, know it.

"They had the numbers of each plane that had a miscalibrated warning system on it and did not contact the owners of those planes," Dean Brett told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Monday. "Our goal is to have the 208B decertified from flying in icing conditions."

According to the lawsuits, a Cessna training and engineering representative said in a deposition hearing he fabricated some flight-training data regarding aircraft operations "out of thin air" 

As ANN reported, the loaned Caravan (photo of accident aircraft below) departed Star, ID the night of October 7, for a flight to Shelton, WA. The plane was nine carrying skydivers who had participated in a weekend skydiving meet in Idaho, and one pilot.

The aircraft departed from Star in night VMC, but investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board noted low clouds and potential icing conditions prevailed at the accident site. No IFR flight plan had been filed.

The Caravan's performance in icing conditions has come under fire before. In January 2006, the NTSB urgently recommended the FAA prohibit operation of Caravans in conditions more severe than light icing, and that pilots maintain at least 120 knots airspeed when encountering icing conditions of any kind in the C208 series.

The Caravan is fully certified for FIKI operations... but Dennis Craig, who lost his son Casey in the White Pass crash, alleges Cessna "faked the data to get the plane certified to fly in icing conditions," and claims data uncovered during the discovery process in pretrial proceedings backs that up.

Cessna spokesman Doug Oliver told the P-I it is company policy not to comment on pending litigation. Following the October accident, Oliver told the paper the company thinks the issue regarding the Caravan's performance in icing conditions comes down to pilot education, and not a specific fault with the aircraft.

Certified in 1984, the Caravan family of single-engine turboprops has proved immensely popular for the Wichita, KS-based planemaker, with sales close to 1,700 planes. The aircraft is particularly popular with cargo haulers -- including FedEx feeder services -- though in recent years has also seen rising popularity with passenger-carrying operations.

FMI: www.cessna.com, www.ntsb.gov