Satellite Image of the Area (Image from NTSB Factual Report) |
The National Transportation Safety Board released a long-awaited factual report Thursday on the plane crash near Dillingham last August that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens and four other people.
While Thursday's release was a factual and not a causal report, several elements of the NTSB's report focus on anecdotal incidents from the year before the crash involving the DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter’s 62-year-old pilot Terry Smith, who suffered a stroke in 2006.
Other sections of Thursday’s report said the aircraft was in excellent repair and within weight and center-of-gravity limits. The report said that the plane appeard to climb and bank just before it hit the upslope of the mountains.
Although many people the NTSB spoke with praised Smith's general abilities as a pilot, describing him as experienced and calm, Tikchik Narrows Lodge owner Fredrick “Bud” Hodson told investigators that he saw Smith and his wife at the Seattle-Tacoma airport in fall 2009 -- but Smith didn’t recognize him.
“He said that Terry’s wife said, ‘Don’t you remember him. It’s Bud.’ He also commented that ‘Terry just didn’t look all there,’” an NTSB interview transcript said. “Mr. Hudson (sp) concluded the interview by noting that word in the Dillingham aviation community was that since Terry had experienced the stroke, that he just didn’t seem the same. He again used the verbiage, ‘Terry just didn’t seem all there.’”
In a separate interview, Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum Director Norm Lagasse told the NTSB that Smith had trouble starting a Grumman Widgeon at a July 4 demonstration flight observed by 500 people.
“When Terry tried to start the engine, he was unable to get hydraulic pressure. He shut down and a volunteer pointed out the hydraulic switch. He then tried three times to start the airplane, and a volunteer pointed out that Terry had forgotten to engage the center magneto master button,” an NTSB interviewer wrote. “Terry seemed sterile and flat, not very buoyant. He was not malicious. But he was not energized, not fully present.”
When asked about causes for Smith’s lapses at the aviation museum flight, Lagasse mentioned the loss of Smith’s son-in-law, Maj. Aaron Malone, in the July 28 Anchorage crash of a military C-17 cargo jet that killed three other airmen.
“Asked whether Terry might be having a bad day, Mr. Lagasse noted that it would be easier to understand after the tragedy involving his son-in-law,” the NTSB transcript said. “But this was earlier, and Terry showed an inattention to details that just seemed out of character. This was his favorite airplane.”
Lagasse went on, however, to qualify those remarks.
“There was no other evidence that Terry was forgetful,” the transcript said. “Mr. Lagasse would hate to see something like this tarnish Terry’s reputation.”
Those who observed Smith the day of the crash said he appeared alert and normal. They said he checked weather reports, and even held off from flying in conditions earlier in the morning.
Smith was flying Stevens, 86, to a fishing camp near a lodge owned by communications firm GCI on Aug. 9 when the plane, which was also registered to GCI, crashed with nine people on board. Also killed in the crash with Stevens and Smith were former Stevens aide Bill Phillips Sr., 56; GCI executive Dana Tindall, 48; and her 16-year-old daughter, Corey Tindall.
The NTSB’s Thursday report states that all five victims of the crash apparently died on impact from a variety of blunt-force head and torso injuries, including numerous bone fractures.
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Survivors of the crash included Phillips’ 13-year-old son, William Phillips Jr.; lobbyist Jim Morhard, 53; and former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe, 54, and his son, 19-year-old Kevin O’Keefe. Sean O’Keefe suffered extensive injuries in the crash and was hospitalized for several weeks afterward.
Thousands of Alaskans, as well as political figures from across the nation, attended Stevens’ Aug. 18 funeral at the Anchorage Baptist Temple. Among those who said their final farewells before Stevens was buried at Arlington National Cemetery were Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Stevens’ family and Alaskans across the state observed the first Ted Stevens Day on Nov. 18, Stevens’ birthday. In its 2011 session, the state Legislature approved the fourth Sunday in each July to observe the day -- a change requested by Stevens’ family, who wanted Alaskans to have a chance to observe the day outdoors.
In initial findings released shortly after the crash, NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman said the plane’s emergency locator transmitter was separated from its antenna in the crash -- a factor in the five-hour delay before rescue crews reached the survivors. The board issued a January recommendation that other pilots inspect the mounting brackets of their ELTs to prevent similar events in future crashes.
During the initial investigation, the NTSB also released a breakdown of Smith's flying time, with some 30,000 career hours spent in the cockpit -- but only 45 of them in Otters like the one that crashed.
The factual report is the first part of a two-step process in the release of NTSB findings on the Stevens crash. The five-member board will hold a May 24 hearing in Washington, D.C. to take public testimony on the crash, before members vote to determine its cause.
