In what can only be described as a tragic day for aviation, a total of 16 people were killed in two unrelated plane crashes over the last 24 hours, one in Montana and one in Japan.
A single-engine turboprop plane carrying 14 people from Oroville, California to a ski trip near Bozeman, Montana crashed just short of the runway in Butte, killing everyone on board. Several of the passengers were children.
According to air traffic controllers, the flight was uneventful and they heard no reports of trouble from the pilot. However, at the very last moment witnesses said the plane appeared to veer sharply to the left then plunge into a nosedive.
No cause for the crash has been determined yet, and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators are currently on the scene gathering information. Their job is complicated by the fact that the plane did not have flight data or voice recorders.
Some have speculated that the plane, a Pilatus PC-12, may have been overloaded, which could have been a factor in the crash. The Pilatus’s maximum capacity is 11 passengers, which includes two pilots.
The other incident occurred at Tokyo’s Narita airport early Monday morning, where a FedEx cargo plane en route from Guangzhou, China crashed during landing, killing both the pilot and copilot.
The plane, a Boeing MD-11, was captured on airport video cameras bouncing and then losing control while attempting to touch down. After tipping sideways a fireball erupted, which engulfed the plane as it broke apart.
Airport firefighters immediately began extinguishing the flames, but could not save the pilots. After the accident the airport was forced to shut down one of its runways, causing many flights to be canceled or diverted to other airports around Japan.
The cause of the crash is unknown, but high winds in the area may have played a part. Gusts up to 43 miles per hour were recorded at the airport at the time of crash, which was the first fatal accident at Narita.
Experts say that “wind shear”—an unexpected burst of wind that lifts or lowers a plane— could explain why the plane seemed to bounce before crashing. But they also note that the MD-11 is notoriously difficult to land, and did not rule out pilot error or mechanical failure.
The two pilots, Kevin Kyle Mosley, 54, and Anthony Stephen Pino, 49, were both American. NTSB investigators are headed to the crash site to assist Japanese officials.
The Montana crash was the second fatal incident in the U.S. in as many months, following the crash of a Continental Connection commuter plane in Buffalo on February 12. In that incident 49 people on board were killed and one person on the ground.
Prior to that U.S. aviation had experienced a record-breaking two-and-a-half year period during which no fatal commercial plane crashes occurred.
Related links: New York Times, Associated Press, Federal Express, Associated Press
By Karen Elowitt for PeterGreenberg.com
Read our article about last month’s Continental Connection crash by clicking here.
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