Saturday, August 09, 2014

Remembering deadly plane crash one year later: Rockwell 690B Turbo Commander, Meridian (Rgd. Ellumax Leasing LLC), N13622 -- Accident occurred August 09, 2013 in East Haven, Connecticut


Photos of East Haven plane crash anniversary 


EAST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A special ceremony will be held in East Haven Saturday to mark the anniversary of a deadly plane crash a short distance away from Tweed-New Haven Airport. 

On August 9, 2013, a small plane crashed into a home on Charter Oak Ave. killing two children on the ground and a father and son onboard the aircraft. Over the course of a year a lot has changed. Two new homes now stand in place of the ones that were damaged in the crash. It’s a welcome sight to those who live in the area.

It was a chaotic and tragic scene along Charter Oak Ave. after the twin-engine plane on approach to Tweed Airport fell from the sky, a day neighbors including Edward Tracey won’t soon forget.

“I heard, like, the explosion sound,” he said. “I went right down there and I’d seen the house on fire.”

The crash killed 13-year-old Shade Brantley and her one year old sister, Madisyn Mitchell. Both were inside one of the homes. The pilot, Bill Henningsgaard, and his son Maxwell, from Washington state were onboard the plane. They also died in the crash. The homes were eventually leveled, and today two new houses stand in their place.

“Seeing the empty space over there, it made you do a lot of thinking about it you know, so I am glad that the houses are there now,” Tracey said.

News 8 spoke with the family who lives on the property where the two young girls were killed.

“We said we don’t have any problem because it happened only one time. not always,” a woman who didn’t give her name said. “We not feeling any negative energy. We are happy.”

The plane crash impacted many different people here in town. That’s why community leaders have organized a special ceremony to take place Saturday morning to remember the four lives lost one year ago.

“You feel like you’re safe at home and your kids are safe at home,and then a plane drops out of the clear blue sky and lands on your house; how horrific is that,” said Rev. Karen Gronback Johnson of Old Stone Church.

Rev. Johnson says anyone is welcome to attend the service. “We thought you know what, it’s really not fitting to let an anniversary like that go by without some remembrance.”

Saturday’s remembrance ceremony will start at 11:30 a.m. at Margaret Tucker Park. It’s directly across from the Old Stone Church in East Haven.

As for the cause of the plane crash, the NTSB tells News 8 the investigation is ongoing.

Story and Video:  http://wtnh.com


Bill Henningsgaard, and his son Maxwell


13-year-old Sade Brantley and her sister 1-year-old Madisyn Mitchell


NTSB Identification: ERA13FA358
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, August 09, 2013 in New Haven, CT
Aircraft: ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL 690B, registration: N13622
Injuries: 4 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. 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.

On August 9, 2013, about 1121 eastern daylight time, a Rockwell International 690B, N13622, was destroyed after impacting two homes while maneuvering for landing in East Haven, Connecticut. The airplane was registered to Ellumax, LLC, and was operated by a private individual. The commercial pilot, one passenger, and two people on the ground were fatally injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Teterboro Airport (TEB), Teterboro, New Jersey, about 1049 and was destined for Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN), New Haven, Connecticut.

Review of preliminary data from the Federal Aviation Administration revealed that at 1115:10, the flight was cleared for the instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 2, circle to land runway 20 at HVN by New York Approach Control (N90). At 1115:43 the pilot contacted HVN tower and reported 7 and one half miles from SALLT intersection. The HVN local controller instructed the pilot to enter a left downwind for runway 20. At 1119:26 the pilot reported to HVN air traffic control (ATC) that he was entering a left downwind for runway 20. HVN ATC cleared the pilot to land on runway 20. While circling to runway 20, the HVN tower controller asked the pilot if he would be able to maintain visual contact with the airport. The pilot replied "622 is in visual contact now". At 1120:55 the HVN air traffic controller made a truncated transmission with the call sign “622”. No further communications were received from the accident airplane. The last recorded radar target was at 1120:53, about .7 miles north of the runway 20 threshold indicating an altitude of 800 feet mean seal level.

According to a student pilot witness, who was traveling on interstate 95 (I-95) at exit 51; he looked to his right while traveling east bound and saw the airplane at the end of a right roll. The airplane was inverted and traveling at a high rate of speed, nose first, towards the ground in the vicinity of where HVN was located. He stated that he stopped at a local business and found out that the airplane had crashed.

According to another witness, who lives two houses from the impact point of the airplane, he was in his living room when he saw the airplane descending about 90 degrees right side down into the homes.

The airplane was located inverted, with the forward half of the airplane inside the basement of the primary home on a heading of 192 degrees magnetic. The cockpit, left engine and forward two-thirds of the fuselage were located inside the basement. The left wing was located on the back porch of the primary home. The right wing impacted a secondary adjacent house on the north side of the primary home. The right engine and propeller impacted the ground in between both homes. A postaccident fire ensued and consumed a majority of the wreckage.

The recorded weather at HVN, at 1126, included wind from 170 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to 19 knots, visibility 9 miles, and overcast ceiling at 900 feet.

 
 


NTSB senior air safety investigator Bob Gretz, back to camera, confers with emergency responders on the scene.

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