Wed, Jan 11, 2006
Disorientation Likely Caused Caravan To Go Down
Investigators with the
National Transporation Safety Board have ruled a midair collision
-- with a bird, or anything else -- was not the cause of a fatal
October 2002 accident involving a Cessna 208B Caravan.
In the Probable Cause report on the accident issued Tuesday,
NTSB investigators stated the aircraft went down after pilot Thomas
J. Preziose became disoriented while flying at night in clouds,
while also monitoring a FedEx DC-10 that was flying about a mile
from his position. Such factors likely caused Preziose to lose his
reference to the horizon.
As was reported in Aero-News,
evidence found in the wreckage -- unexplained red streaks, and
debris found in the Caravan's wing -- initially led some to
suggest something had struck the Caravan.
Thirty-four red streaks were found in and around the forward
portion of the Caravan's underslung cargo pod, with the majority of
marks exhibiting a random, smearing or rubbing pattern, rather than
a unidirectional and/or penetrating pattern consistant with an
impact. The NTSB determined the paint marks were caused by pieces
coming off the plane during the accident, or machinery used to pull
the wreckage out of the water.
After exhaustive investigation, a piece of metal found embedded
in the Caravan's wing was determined to have come from an
electronic dimmer switch installed in the aircraft's cockpit,
according to the NTSB.
All possibilities were considered in the accident, including the
unlikely chance the Caravan (file photo of type, above) had somehow
collided with the FedEx aircraft. No damage was found on the
DC-10.
CEO Don Godwin of Mid-Atlantic Freight, the company that
employed Preziose, told the Associated Press he had not read the
final report and declined comment.
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