Settlement With Crashed Plane’s Owner Reached
Fifth Judicial Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons has agreed to
drop all charges against airport commissioner Phillip B. Cowger
stemming from an October 2007 airplane crash near Clarksville,
AR.
"Apparently, the victim was satisfied with a settlement [he and
Cowger] reached, and he asked that the charges be dropped," Gibbons
said. "In this instance, it was a theft of property case and there
was no personal injury, and I decided to drop the charges at his
request."
Cowger, 58, had faced a maximum sentence of 1 year in prison and
a $1,000 fine.
The Russellville (AR) Courier reports Cowger took the airplane
without the owner’s permission from the Russellville
Municipal Airport on October 5, 2007, and flew from Russellville to
Clarksville to meet James C. Wheeler for a flying lesson.
The Cessna 150 crashed after failing to develop full power on
takeoff and clipped power lines off the end of the runway.
In its official report on the crash, the National Transportation
Safety Board said "The airplane impacted power lines and terrain
after takeoff from runway 9 (4,508 feet by 75 feet, asphalt).
"The accident takeoff began from a taxiway intersection, with
approximately 4,000 feet of runway available. The dual student was
slow in applying the throttle and an additional 200 - 500 feet of
runway was used before full throttle was reached.
"After liftoff, the flight instructor noted that the airplane
was not climbing as expected. He subsequently noticed that the
engine tachometer indicated only 2,000 revolutions per minute
(RPM), instead of the normal 2,500 RPM. The flight instructor
reported that at that point there was no longer sufficient runway
remaining to land, so he elected to continue the flight.
"He stated that the main landing gear struck power lines off the
end of the runway, and the airplane subsequently impacted a field
on the opposite side of the lines. The nose landing gear collapsed
and the airplane came to rest."
Cowger and Wheeler both received minor injuries, and the
airplane was substantially damaged, according to the NTSB
report.
Probable causes of the crash included "failure of the flight
instructor to identify the lack of airplane performance in a timely
manner and to reject the takeoff...the partial loss of engine power
for undetermined reasons"...and "the presence of the power lines
off the end of the runway."