Seven years ago, a small plane went missing in the mountains near Dixon
By Dillon Tabish
Seven years ago, a single-engine plane carrying two friends of mine went missing in the mountains near Dixon. It was a Sunday.
I had met Melissa Weaver and Erika Hoefer seven months earlier when they both started working as reporters at the Daily Inter Lake, where I was a sports reporter and fresh college graduate trying out adulthood in a town that felt far from home. The girls were on similar paths, embracing a new stage in life in an unfamiliar place, anxious about all of its uncertainties.
Melissa was from Billings, the oldest sister of three siblings and a recent graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism. Erika was from Wisconsin, also the oldest in a family of three kids, who previously worked at the newspaper in her hometown of Beloit before moving to Chicago. She departed the big-city life to adventure in Northwest Montana.
We formed a tight-knit group of friends who enjoyed whimsical exploration and makeshift fun. The girls were our affable captains, bright, beautiful presences wherever they were: Saturday mornings in the newsroom, blaring music with sing-alongs; deep-fry cooking parties with late-night card games; adventuring in the wild. It was friendship at its finest.
It was June 27, 2010, when an acquaintance of Melissa’s traveled from Missoula to Kalispell in a small plane. The pilot, Sonny Kless, and his friend Brian Williams organized an afternoon sightseeing trip and invited the girls. We all planned to see the girls that evening at a barbecue when we could hear about their sky-high adventure on that perfect sunburst day.
They began by exploring Glacier National Park before turning south and crossing Flathead Lake. They veered over the National Bison Range. Then they entered the mountains south of Dixon.
We knew something wasn’t right later that afternoon. The girls were still gone. No one could reach them.
What followed over the next three days was a type of desperation I didn’t know until then. My friend, Sydney Jordt, who was also close with the girls, went with me to Dixon and we helped in the search effort. All together, more than 40 people from across the region, including family members and other friends of those missing, participated in the search.
On the afternoon of June 30, searchers spotted the wreckage of the plane. The following day, a search-and-rescue team hiked through dense brush and timber into the rugged mountains and recovered the bodies. All four — Melissa, 23, Erika, 27, Brian, 28, and Sonny, 25 — were carried out that evening.
A year later, a group of six of us, including Erika’s father and sister, hiked to the site of the crash. We bushwhacked up the mountain, six miles in, with the help of two members of the Sanders County Search and Rescue team who volunteered their time and escorted us. It was October and the leaves were changing colors. The site was still charred black with tiny pieces of plane scattered throughout. A helicopter emerged in the sky above and lowered a giant stainless-steel cross, a homemade monument that Erika’s father had received permission to plant at this special location hidden to everyone but us on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
We placed the cross that day, and it bears their names: Erika J. Hoefer and Melissa Weaver, and “Eternal Friends 6-27-2010.”
Without the dozens of search-and-rescue volunteers who devoted those long days seven years ago, we would still be searching.
http://flatheadbeacon.com
NTSB Identification: WPR10FA330
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, June 27, 2010 in Dixon, MT
Probable Cause Approval Date: 06/27/2011
Aircraft: PIPER PA-28R-180, registration: N7581J
Injuries: 4 Fatal.
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The airplane departed with the pilot and three passengers for a sightseeing flight. Recorded radar data showed that the airplane departed the airport, proceeded north over a national forest, and then traveled south. The last radar return indicated that the airplane was at an altitude about 300 feet above ground level and 2,800 feet mean sea level (msl), following a river. Witnesses reported seeing a blue and white single-engine airplane matching the paint scheme of the accident airplane flying low over the river about the same time as the last radar return. The wreckage was located 4.5 miles south of the river at an elevation of 4,600 feet msl in mountainous terrain. The accident scene was confined to the immediate vicinity of the wreckage, and had been subjected to a localized ground fire. The confined configuration of the wreckage was consistent with a vertical descent and ground impact. Examination of the airframe and engine found no preimpact malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Toxicology revealed that an inactive metabolite of marijuana was detected in specimens from the pilot. No blood was available for testing and the findings indicate only that the pilot likely used marijuana in the days or weeks preceding the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed and aircraft control while maneuvering, resulting in an aerodynamic stall and collision with mountainous terrain.
HISTORY OF THE FLIGHT
On June 27, 2010, approximately 1600 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-28R-180, N7581J, impacted mountainous terrain 10 miles southwest of Dixon, Montana. The airplane was owned by a private individual, operated by Northstar Jet, and was rented to the pilot, who operated it under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot and his three passengers were killed. The airplane was substantially damaged, and consumed by a post impact fire. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from the Kalispell City Airport, Kalispell, Montana, about 1409.
The airplane was reported missing on June 27, 2010. A search was conducted by the Sanders and Lake County Sheriff Departments. The wreckage was located by aerial search crews on the afternoon of June 30 th in rugged and remote mountainous terrain. A ground search and rescue team confirmed four fatalities at the accident site.
The Lake County Sheriff and the airplane’s owner conveyed that the pilot had rented the single engine, blue and white airplane, and departed with one passenger from Missoula International Airport, Missoula, Montana, about 1330. Around 1409, he departed Kalispell City Airport with three passengers for a sightseeing flight. Initial radar data showed the airplane departing Kalispell and heading north over the Flathead National Forest, then traveling south along the east side of Flathead Lake. The last radar return was at 1552, located in the vicinity of Dixon, at an altitude of about 300 feet above ground level (agl), 2,800 feet mean sea level (msl). Witnesses reported seeing a blue and white single-engine airplane flying low over the Flathead River between Perma and Dixon around 1600.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
The pilot, age 25, held a private pilot certificate for airplane single-engine land issued on June 26, 2009, and a second-class airman medical certificate issued March 21, 2008, with no limitations. The pilot’s logbook was not located, and is presumed to have been destroyed in the post impact fire. The operator and the pilot’s certified flight instructor (CFI) both stated that the pilot had received all his flight training at the Missoula International Airport, had accumulated about 100 hours of total flight time, and had about 30 hours in the accident airplane. Rental records indicate that the pilot’s most recent flights in the accident airplane were on November 25, 2009, and June 25, 2010.
AIRCRAFT INFORMATION
The four-seat, low-wing, retractable landing gear airplane, serial number 28R-30971, was manufactured in 1968. It was powered by a Lycoming IO-360-B1E 180 horsepower (hp) engine and was equipped with a Hartzell model HC2YK-1BF two bladed constant speed propeller. Review of copies of maintenance logbook records showed an annual inspection was completed on April 9, 2010, at a recorded total airframe time of 6,234.5 hours. The engine time since major overhaul (TSMO) was 1,772.9 hours. An entry dated June 9, 2010, stated that the airplane had been stripped, repainted, and a successful test flight had been performed. The operator reported that the airplane departed Missoula with full fuel tanks (50 gallon) and that no fuel was taken on at Kalispell City Airport.
Airplane climb performance can be estimated utilizing the rate of climb verses density altitude chart provided in the PA-28R-180 Owners Handbook (gear & flaps up, gross weight 2,500 pounds). The calculated density altitude at 5,000 feet msl and 27 degrees Celsius is 7,500 feet. The estimated rate of climb at maximum gross weight is 480 feet per minute.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
The weather observation recorded at Missoula International Airport (36 miles southeast of the accident site) by the automated surface observation system (ASOS) at 1553, was winds from 140 degrees at 3 knots; 10 statute miles visibility; sky clear; and the temperature at 27 degrees Celsius.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
An autopsy was performed on the pilot on July 3, 2010, by the State of Montana Medical Examiner, Missoula. The autopsy findings state the cause of death was “blunt force injuries.”
Forensic toxicology was performed on specimens from the pilot by the FAA Bioaeronautical Science Research Lab CAMI, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The toxicology report stated that 0.0029 ug/ml tetrahydrocannabinol Carboxylic Acid (marihuana) was detected in brain tissue, tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (marihuana) was detected in muscle tissue, and 0.0304 ug/ml tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (marihuana) was detected in urine.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
Search teams located the wreckage the afternoon of June 30, approximately 10 miles southwest of Dixon at an elevation of 4,685 feet msl, which also corresponded to a position 4.5 miles south of the Flathead river. The wreckage was positioned near the bottom of a heavily wooded steep valley populated with lodgepole pine trees and young maples. The slope of the hill side was measured to be 28 degrees. The wreckage was positioned on the ground with the left wing, right wing, engine, and tail in their appropriate positions. The right wing pointed up hill, and the wreckage was orientated on a 069-degree magnetic bearing line, measured from tail to nose. The center fuselage and cabin area had been completely consumed by a post impact fire. Two trees directly adjacent to the wreckage, behind the left wing, had evidence of fresh breaks and damage consistent with recently being topped, and another tree exhibited fresh damage to the trunk and branches at the same elevation as the topped trees. Tree branches and needles below showed browning consistent with fuel blight. Blackened ground and charred vegetation were consistent with a localized ground fire around the wreckage.
Control continuity was established from all control surface bell cranks to their cockpit connection points. The right horizontal stabilator was sheared off at the interface between it and the empennage, about 40 percent of the left stabilator was present, and the vertical stabilizer with the rudder attached was present on the empennage. Fragments of the stabilator were located beneath the topped trees. The stabilator trim jack screw was extended 1 inch, which corresponds to a neutral pitch setting. The fuel selector valve was located but the fire damage was too extensive to be able to determine valve position. Both main landing gear were in the down position, with ground divots next to each mount. The nose landing gear appeared to be in the in transit position. The flap handle was down, and the right flap was flush with the wing upper skin. The left flap and aileron were separated from the wing, and located on the ground a few feet downhill from the wing. The engine was separated from the engine mount, and laid inverted in line with the centerline of the fuselage.
The entire engine was black and sooted from thermal exposure. The engine intake manifold and exhaust manifolds were impact separated from the engine; the throttle body had separated from its mounting pad. Both magnetos were attached to the engine, and the fuel distribution valve was present with all four fuel lines leading to the engine cylinders. The engine could not be rotated by hand. The propeller was attached to the crankshaft propeller flange, and the spinner was undamaged. Both blades exhibited minimal leading edge damage, and the outer third of each blade was bent aft approximately 15 degrees. Further examination of the engine by the manufacturer’s technical representative revealed no anomalies that would preclude normal engine operation prior to impact.
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KALISPELL - A quest to erect a memorial for two Daily Inter Lake reporters who died in an airplane crash near Perma in June 2010 has been accomplished, with a sense of relief and reward for those involved.
A group of six people set out from a remote logging road in rugged, mountainous terrain on the morning of Sept. 24, bushwhacking about six miles through thick timber to the crash site about 8 miles southwest of Perma.
After reaching the site, the group used a satellite phone to call in a helicopter from Missoula carrying a 45-pound stainless steel cross bearing the names and birth dates of reporters Erika J. Hoefer and Melissa Weaver and "Eternal Friends 6-27-2010," the date of the crash.
"It was great to see that helicopter coming in from up above with that cross in a basket underneath," said Bill Hoefer, Erika's father. "It was such a relief because I know we couldn't have gotten it in."
Putting the cross in place was the culmination of a determined effort that was easier said than done, to say the least.
"It's been my focus for a year, along with a few other people who helped us out, that's for sure," Hoefer said. "The good thing is we got it done. I was just so happy."
A single-engine Piper airplane took off from Kalispell City Airport the morning of June 27, 2010, for a scenic flight, carrying Hoefer, 27, Weaver, 23, and two men from Missoula, Brian Williams, 28, and the pilot, 25-year-old Sonny Kless.
When they did not return as planned that afternoon, a massive search was launched.
The wreckage was located three days later, with all four on board deceased.
Soon after a funeral for Hoefer in her hometown of Beloit, Wis., Dillon Tabish, then an Inter Lake reporter, suggested some type of memorial for his two friends, and the idea took hold with Bill Hoefer.
"Dillon mentioned that we might be able to hike back there and leave something there," Hoefer recalls.
Hoefer returned to Montana last October to scout out the possibilities, at one point meeting with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council and tribal officials for permission.
"I was able to talk to the council while they were in session and they were just absolutely wonderful," Hoefer said.
In addition to approving his request, tribal officials advised him to provide a photograph of the memorial and coordinates for its location within lands that are considered part of the tribes' timber base.
"They told me they would flag that area because it is a logging area. They would literally designate that as a memorial site because it is sacred ground and they would never log it," he said.
Todd Donahue, a Missoula helicopter pilot who was involved in extracting the wreckage, volunteered his services in flying Hoefer and Tabish over the crash site to scout out the potential for reaching it on foot.
Hoefer then enlisted the services of a metal worker in Wisconsin to build the cross, first consulting with Weaver's parents, Billings residents Dan and Cathy Weaver.
"I contacted her parents and asked what they thought, and they liked the idea as much as we did, so we just talked back and forth," Hoefer said.
Plans were set to carry out the task in June this year, and around the anniversary of the crash roughly a dozen family members and friends converged on Missoula, some from as far away as Boston.
But there was a big problem: Montana's late spring weather and lingering snowpack of up to 3 feet had buried much of the rough logging road that would be used to reach the area, where creeks were flowing high. The conditions were such that the expedition was called off.
"That would have been a disaster," Hoefer said. "I don't think we could have done it."
"We were really disappointed," Tabish said. "This is something the whole year we had been focused on."
But Hoefer was determined. He and his wife, Candy, and daughter, Jessica, made the roughly 1,700-mile drive back to Montana in September to try again.
For the hike, Hoefer and his daughter were joined by a friend of his from Missoula, Erik Luther, along with Tabish and, most importantly, two members of the Sanders County Search and Rescue team who had escorted National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration officials to the crash site last year.
Brian Krick and Erich Pfalzer, both U.S. Forest Service employees from Trout Creek, volunteered their entire day toward the effort, providing some much-needed confidence for bushwhacking through some rough country. A tribal saw crew was needed during initial efforts to reach the crash site.
"You can't get an idea of what it's going to be like until you're right there looking at the terrain," Tabish said.
"For the first two miles maybe, it was OK, but after that you dive downhill and you're going through brush and trees and rock slides," he said.
The group was aided by a GPS navigation device, but a meandering course still was necessary to travel through the terrain. When the group approached the site, the work of the saw crew that worked in the area became apparent and the exact location of the fiery crash was unmistakable.
"It was still kind of a charred piece of land. There is melted metal and glass. There are no big pieces left," Tabish said.
After erecting the four-foot high cross, the group reflected on Hoefer and Weaver.
"Sometimes it feels like it happened 10 years ago and sometimes you'll hear or see something that makes it seem like it happened just yesterday," Tabish said, adding that the cross will be a permanent presence.
"It's heavy duty. We hammered that thing down good. That thing is going to stay there forever," he said.
The mostly uphill hike back took longer, with the group returning to their vehicles from the 12-mile round trip at about 8 p.m. The next day the Hoefers met with the Weavers and mutual friends at a Missoula hotel to share memories.
"They've been able to come together as families, and I guess that's the only good thing you could ask for in a tragedy like this," Tabish said.
And for Bill Hoefer, the quest is complete.
"The likelihood of anybody ever finding it is probably slim," he said of the memorial cross. "But we know where it's at."
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