British Aerospace BAe-125-700A, Rais Group International NC LLC -- operated by Execuflight, N237WR: Fatal accident occurred November 10, 2015 near Akron Fulton International Airport (KAKR), Summit County, Ohio

The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident. 

Aviation Accident Final Report  -  National Transportation Safety Board: http://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

Docket And Docket Items -  National Transportation Safety Board:   http://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms

Aviation Accident Data Summary  -    National Transportation Safety Board:  http://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

FAA  Flight Standards District Office:  FAA Cleveland FSDO-25

NTSB Identification: CEN16MA036
Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Accident occurred Tuesday, November 10, 2015 in Akron, OH
Probable Cause Approval Date: 10/24/2016
Aircraft: BRITISH AEROSPACE HS 125 700A, registration: N237WR
Injuries: 9 Fatal.

NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/aviation.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-16/03.

On November 10, 2015, about 1453 eastern standard time (EST), Execuflight flight 1526, a British Aerospace HS 125-700A (Hawker 700A), N237WR, departed controlled flight while on a nonprecision localizer approach to runway 25 at Akron Fulton International Airport (AKR) and impacted a four-unit apartment building in Akron, Ohio. The captain, first officer, and seven passengers died; no one on the ground was injured. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The airplane was registered to Rais Group International NC LLC and operated by Execuflight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 as an on-demand charter flight. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed. The flight departed from Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport (MGY), Dayton, Ohio, about 1413 and was destined for AKR.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The flight crew's mismanagement of the approach and multiple deviations from company standard operating procedures, which placed the airplane in an unsafe situation and led to an unstabilized approach, a descent below minimum descent altitude without visual contact with the runway environment, and an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident were Execuflight's casual attitude toward compliance with standards; its inadequate hiring, training, and operational oversight of the flight crew; the company's lack of a formal safety program; and the Federal Aviation Administration's insufficient oversight of the company's training program and flight operations.

Rais Group International NC LLC - operated by Execuflight: http://registry.faa.gov/N237WR

NTSB Identification: CEN16MA036
Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Accident occurred Tuesday, November 10, 2015 in Akron, OH
Aircraft: BRITISH AEROSPACE HS 125 700A, registration: N237WR
Injuries: 9 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 traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On November 10, 2015, about 1452 eastern standard time (EST), Execuflight flight 1526, a British Aerospace HS 125-700A, N237WR, departed controlled flight while on approach to landing at Akron Fulton International Airport (AKR) and impacted a 4-plex apartment building in Akron, Ohio. The pilot, copilot, and seven passengers died; no ground injuries were reported. The airplane was destroyed by the crash and a postcrash fire. The airplane was registered to Rais Group International NC LLC and operated by Execuflight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as an on-demand charter flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed. The flight departed from Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport (MGY), Dayton, Ohio, about 1413 EST and was destined for AKR.

The airplane, which was based at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, departed Cincinnati Municipal Airport-Lunken Field, Cincinnati, Ohio, about 1112 EST on the day of the accident and arrived at MGY about 1125 EST. The airplane remained parked on the ramp at one of the fixed-base operators until departing for AKR.

According to Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control and radar data, about 1438 EST, the Akron-Canton terminal radar approach control facility provided radar vectors to the accident airplane for the localizer runway 25 instrument approach procedure at AKR. 

A Piper PA-28-161 airplane performing flight training at the airport completed the localizer runway 25 instrument approach procedure at AKR before the accident airplane began its approach. According to the flight instructor on board the Piper PA-28-161, the airplane "broke out at minimums" on the localizer runway 25 approach and landed on runway 25. After the Piper PA-28-161 exited the runway, the flight instructor reported that he heard one of the pilots of the accident airplane state "Hawker Jet on a 10 mile final localizer 25" over the Unicom frequency. Subsequently, the flight instructor radioed to the accident airplane and stated "we broke out right at minimums." According to the flight instructor, one of the pilots of the accident airplane acknowledged this transmission with "thanks for the update." 

About 1452 EST, a motion-activated security camera located about 900 ft to the southeast of the accident site captured the airplane as it came in over the surrounding trees in a left-wing-down attitude about 1.8 nautical miles from the approach end of runway 25 at AKR. An explosion and postcrash fire were observed on the video just after the airplane flew out of the security camera's view.

The postcrash fire consumed most of the airplane; however, the airframe, engines, primary flight controls, and landing gear were all accounted for at the accident site. The airplane was equipped with a Fairchild GA-100 tape unit cockpit voice recorder, which was recovered and sent to the National Transportation Safety Board's Vehicle Recorders Laboratory for examination. 

About 1450 EST, the surface weather observation at AKR was wind from 240 degrees at 7 knots; visibility 1 3/4 statute mile in mist; ceiling broken at 600 ft above ground level (agl); overcast ceiling at 900 ft agl; temperature 11 degrees C (52 degrees F); dew point 9 degrees C (48 degrees F); and altimeter 29.95 inches of mercury. 

Andres Chavez

AKRON, Ohio - The 9th and final victim of the plane crash in Akron on Nov. 10 has been identified by the Summit County Medical Examiner.

The medical examiner reported the co-pilot who was killed in the Akron plane crash has been identified as Renato Marchese, 50, of Boynton Beach, Florida.

The other eight passengers who died from the crash were identified as Diana Suriel, Ori Rom, Nick Weaver, Gary Shapiro, Thomas Virgin, Jared Weiner, Diane Smoot and Oscar Chavez, the pilot from North Bay Village.

7 of the plane crash victims were employees for Pebb Enterprises in suburban Boca Raton.

 

Mercyhurst forensics team assists in Ohio plane crash


When a plane crashed Nov. 10, 2015, in Akron, Ohio, the Summit County Medical Examiner knew whom to call.

Dennis Dirkmaat, Ph.D., the director of the Mercyhurst Applied Forensic Science program and an expert in victim recovery, led a team of 24 people from Mercyhurst as they assisted at the crash site in Ohio.

“Dr. Koehler, there in Summit County, had been at the scene and realized that we would be of value,” Dirkmaat said. Twenty graduate students and four faculty members spent five hours on the scene in Akron. Using forensic science skills that they learned at Mercyhurst, the graduate students assisted in the successful recovery of all nine victims.

“The medical examiner was very familiar with what we can do—what I can do—so there was a representative at the scene. I was basically in charge of the recovery and organized it and ran it,” Dirkmaat said.

Being called to such scenes is not uncommon for Dirkmaat, and he has been the primary anthropologist at many disaster scenes. Following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Dirkmaat was the primary adviser during the recovery and identification of victims on United Flight 93 in Somerset County, Pa.

The team from Mercyhurst has helped Dirkmaat at some of these crashes, including the 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in Buffalo, New York. Using forensic archeology they “collect the evidence, process it like it was an indoor scene, and collect all the information,” Dirkmaat said.

This practical experience is invaluable to students.

“I feel better prepared for the professional world after participating in this ‘real world’ situation,” graduate student Jordan Strange, one of those at the Akron site, said.

Because the graduate students are only at Mercyhurst for two years, there is a high turnover within the group.

Working can be hazardous because of broken glass or sharp pieces of metal. The group from Mercyhurst removed debris from the crash site before they could begin to extricate the victims. The team from Mercyhurst will work anywhere from five to 10 such scenes each year. They use the same principles and practices whether there is one victim or multiple victims.

The Forensic Science program at Mercyhurst is considered one of the best in the country. In 2008, the department was awarded a substantial grant from the National Institute of Justice.

“I am very grateful for the hands on experience that Mercyhurst and specifically the Biological and Forensic Anthropology graduate program offer,” said Strange. “You can’t get this kind of experience anywhere else.”

- Source:  http://merciad.mercyhurst.edu

A pilot who was killed in a crash while flying seven Boca Raton colleagues to Ohio on a business trip has been identified by family members as Andres Chavez. According to friends, Chavez was from Colombia but had been living in Miami. They said he has been a pilot for 15 years, most recently working for execuFlight, a Fort Lauderdale-based company that charters private flights. "He used to fly for several companies in Colombia before coming to the United States," Chavez's friend, Esteban Saltos, said. "I've been in shock because Andres was a good pilot, a good friend and a great father."

ExecuFlight CEO Augusto "Danny" Lewkowicz

The CEO of the Fort Lauderdale-based charter company which operated a business jet that crashed Tuesday in Akron, killing 9 people says he is perplexed and shocked.

"We are... we are no less shocked than anybody else. We don't know what happened but we know that we will know what happened soon. They will tell us," ExecuFlight CEO Augusto "Danny" Lewkowicz said.

Officials said there were no survivors from the Tuesday crash and nine bodies were found in the wreckage.

The aircraft crashed into power lines, then a four-unit apartment building on Mogadore Road in Akron, causing the building and an adjacent building to catch fire. The plane landed in an embankment.

"Planes just generally don't fall out of the sky. I can tell you that there were very well seasoned pilots, both of them. They like to fly together. We monitor the flights leg by leg since it started and it's typical for them to give us a doors open, doors closed message, we've got them all," he added.

The NTSB is on scene and is expected to spend several days investigating the cause of the crash.

He said the two crew members had been flying together at his company for about a year.

"You can't really prepare for this kind of stuff," he said. 

Lewkowicz said that the aircraft, a 10-seat Hawker H25 jet, was in good condition and well-maintained. 

Source:  http://www.newsnet5.com

Dennis Dirkmaat, Ph.D. and his team from the Department of Applied Forensic Sciences at Mercyhurst University which handles nearly 100 forensic cases a year has been called into the Akron crash by the Summit County Medical Examiner s Office. 

Investigators found the voice recorder from the doomed private jet that crashed into an Akron neighborhood Tuesday afternoon, killing all nine people on board. 

 So far, there is no indication that either the pilot or copilot of the jet sent out a distress call before the craft crashed just before 3 p.m. Tuesday in rainy weather, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday afternoon. It appears the crash happened on the pilot’s first approach to land at nearby Akron Fulton International Airport, investigators said.

“We have recovered the cockpit voice recorder,” Bella Dinh-Zarr, vice chair of the NTSB, said in a press conference near the site of the crash. The recorder is being sent to Washington, D.C. for analysis. Investigators also said they have a video showing the jet flying at a low altitude and then banking before crashing.

The recovery and identification of bodies from the corporate jet crash in Akron’s Ellet neighborhood will be a lengthy process, authorities said Wednesday.

Forensic investigators are at the scene near Mogadore and Skelton roads sifting through the wreckage to recover the nine individuals, including seven workers from a Florida real estate company, who died in the crash. The other two were the pilot and co-pilot.

The NTSB’s Dinh-Zarr said her investigative team likely will be on the scene for another four to five days. Recovery of the aircraft should start Thursday, she said, The two engines will be sent to the manufacturer, Honeywell, for analysis.

“We will not be determining a probable cause of the accident while on scene,” she said. The agency’s team will not speculate on a cause, she said.

The NTSB said it interviewed the pilot of another aircraft that landed safely at Akron Fulton Airport shortly before the jet crash. The pilot was not named.

The conditions at the time allowed for instrument landings at the airport, Dinh-Zarr said.

Jim Silliman, the NTSB’s investigator in charge, said the unnamed pilot who landed safely was on the same radio frequency as the doomed jet and did not hear a distress call prior to the crash. Silliman noted that the Akron airport does not have a staffed control tower.

The interviews with the pilot will be made public at a later date, Dinh-Zarr said.

Meanwhile, work is being done to remove the victims from the charred site and identify them.

“We’re doing a very organized and systematic removal of these folks,” Summit County medical examiner Dr. Lisa Kohler said at a news conference.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Haymaker added: “The recovery process is going to be lengthy.”

The Hawker 700 twin-engine jet was flying from the Dayton area to Akron Fulton International Airport when it hit power lines and then slammed into a four-family apartment complex, erupting into flames. The NTSB said the initial investigation shows the jet’s left wing hit the ground first. After hitting the residence, the 10-seat plane struck an embankment.

While there was no one in the four-unit building that was destroyed, residents from two neighboring four-unit apartment buildings have been evacuated, Haymaker said.

Haymaker, who led the morning news conference, did not say what caused the crash. He noted that the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are taking over the investigation.

Kohler said authorities would not release the names of the victims until they have been positively identified and their families notified. That could take awhile, she said.

Others, however, have identified some of the people who were killed in the crash.

The passengers on the charter plane were from Boca Raton, Fla.-based Pebb Enterprises, which owns and operates residential, commercial and corporate properties in several states, including the Shoppes at Chapel Hill in Cuyahoga Falls.

The company’s website said two of its principals and five employees perished in the crash, but did not name them.

“Our hearts are broken this morning with the news of the tragic accident that took the lives of two principals and five employees of Pebb Enterprises,” the company posted on its website. “We are shocked and deeply saddened for the families, colleagues and friends of those who perished. Our first priority is to give our fullest support to the family members and loved ones of our co-workers.”

The company, which added that it is dealing with “unimaginable loss and mourning,” said in the statement that it would not comment further. It didn’t name the victims.

One victim, Diane Smoot, is listed on the website as director of lease administration and property accounting.

Smoot’s two sisters, a brother and other relatives are on the scene of the crash along with investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board.

Among those also believed to be on the plane is Jared Weiner, one of the principals of the company. His wife’s Facebook page was filling with condolence messages.

Three Pebb Enterprises executives are listed on the leasing information sheet for the Shoppes of Chapel Hill. They include Jared Weiner, his brother, Ian Weiner and Ori Rom. The company website lists them all as principals of the company, along with Jared and Ian’s father, Bruce Weiner.

In addition to the Cuyahoga Falls commercial property, Pebb Enterprises owns and operates residential, commercial and corporate properties at the Marketplace at Four Corners in Bainbridge Township, Sugarcreek Plaza in Dayton and 32 East Retail in Cincinnati in Ohio.

Authorities have opened a family assistance center. Family members of victims can call 330-535-6131 for help. People may also call Victims Assistance at 330-376-0040.

The Ohio Mortuary Response Team, which is part of the Ohio Funeral Directors Association, also is assisting.

The flight was charted by Execuflight, a Florida company. It originated Monday from Fort Lauderdale and went to St. Paul, Minn., Moline, Ill., St. Louis and Cincinnati before stopping in Dayton. The crew and passengers stayed overnight in Cincinnati, according to the NTSB.

The owner of the plane is cooperating with the investigation, Haymaker said.

The National Weather Service reported fog and mist in the area round the time of the crash and recorded visibility at 1.5 miles.

Forensics expert on scene

Summit County is being assisted in the recovery effort by a well-known forensics expert who has worked at major plane disasters, including the 9/11 crash in Somerset, Pa.

Dennis Dirkmaat, a professor of anthropology at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa., worked with a team at the crash site after being called to Akron by the Summit County medical examiner.

Dirkmaat specializes in the archaeological recovery of human remains. He has served as the primary forensic anthropologist during mass fatal crashes, including USAir Flight 427 in Pittsburgh, KAL Flight 801 in Guam and Egypt Air 990 in Rhode Island.

He also was the primary scientific adviser to the Somerset coroner during the recovery and identification of victims of United Flight 93 in 2001. He is a member of the national Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team.
Dirkmaat brought other faculty and graduate students with him.

Dirkmaat said his team helped “make sure we got all the remains and didn’t cause more damage.” He said the crew started at 9 a.m. and finished its work by 2 p.m.

The scene was smaller than other crash sites he has worked on because the plane struck an embankment after hitting the apartment complex, he said. If it hadn’t struck the embankment, the plane would have hit more homes, he said.

“It was a relatively confined space, which made the recovery easier, but it was still a plane wreck,” Dirkmaat said.

The investigators must focus on doing their job and not get emotional.

“That’s not our job,” Dirkmaat said. “Others will grieve. The best thing we can do is do our job well. You can’t think about how these [victims] felt. That will eat you up.”

Jason Grom, a forensic investigator with the Summit County medical examiner, said employees are at the scene recovering remains.

“Our purpose is to recover the remains of the deceased and bring them back to our facility where they will be … identified,” he said. “Doctors will determine the cause and manner of death.”

The medical examiner will have to use dental records and possibly DNA.

“Right now, nothing is off the table as far as what type of means will be used to identify,” Grom said. “Visual identification will not be used. They are not visually recognizable.”

Still in shock

Residents who live near the crash site were still in shock a day later. They stood outside, chatting and speculating with each other and the media about what happened and relived their own brushes with the disaster.

June Dunban who lives just off Mogadore Road, said she hears planes all the time and thought nothing of it when she heard one Tuesday afternoon. Then, she heard sputtering and a loud crash. She ran outside and saw smoke and heard a plane had crashed.

“It was sad,” she said.

Sherman Ivey who lives in an apartment on Mogadore thought the plane crash was a huge gust of wind until he heard the emergency vehicles and went outside to see smoke and flames. He followed the media reports that initially had the number dead at two, but later upped the figure to nine.

Mia Jones, who also lives in a Mogadore apartment, said she thought a train had derailed when she heard the crash. She had just awoken from a nap and was going to go and get her son from school. She has lived in the neighborhood for five years and has never seen anything like this.

“That was just terrible,” she said.

Employees at Professional Grinding Inc., a machine shop near the crash site, ran toward the front of the building with their arms covering their heads when they heard the crash.

“I thought it hit the back of the building,” Eric Morris said.

Morris and Chris Bobrowicz ran to the crash site, where they watched firefighters battle the blaze.

“Props to the firefighters,” Morris said, noting that things were exploding as the firefighters doused the flames. “They took it like champs.”

Is Akron airport needed?

Akron Councilman Bob Hoch, whose ward includes Ellet, said people who live in the area are used to hearing planes. He said Life Flight refuels at the airport and private and corporate planes come and go regularly.
“It’s just unbelievable to have something like that happen,” he said.

Hoch recalled a plane that crashed in 2000 a few streets away, hitting houses. Like Tuesday’s crash, no one on the ground was injured.

Hoch also appeared on the Ray Horner show on WAKR where Horner questioned whether the airport is needed. This was a question originally raised by Eddie Sipplen, the Akron GOP mayoral candidate, in a debate before the November election.

Hoch said he thinks this should be looked at in light of the city’s strained finances. However, he added that airport has an important role in the community, including serving several local businesses.

Families being helped

The American Red Cross is helping the Akron families who lost their homes and possessions in the crash. Spokesman Jim McIntyre said the organization assisted 11 individuals and helped 10 of them with lodging last night.
Red Cross volunteers also are at the scene to help with mental health counseling, he added.

Help for first responders

The Rev. Bob Denton, the police chaplain, arrived at the crash scene this morning and will be providing counseling for the first responders who were involved.

“This is the kind of stuff that kind of sticks to you,” Denton said as he prepared to leave the press area and go closer to the crash site.

Leanne Graham, the head of Victim Assistance, also arrived at the scene in the morning to help any family members of the crash victims who showed up.
“That’s very likely, she said. “People want answers.”

Her agency Tuesday assisted the Ellet residents who were displaced by the crash.

“It’s hard for them — the people who were affected,” she said.

Source:  http://www.ohio.com

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Seven of the nine people who died in an Akron plane crash Tuesday have been identified.

Diana Suriel, Ori Rom and Gary Shapiro were killed in the crash along with Thomas Virgin, Jared Weiner, Diane Smoot and Andres Chavez.

Suriel was a project manager assistant for Pebb Enterprises, the Florida company that chartered the plane.

Rom was married to the sister of Jared Weiner, who is listed on LinkedIn as one of three principals of the company. Weiner's grandfather founded the company and his brother, Ian, is also a principal. Family members have confirmed that Jared died in the crash. 

Thomas Virgin's sister told newsnet5.com's Scripps sister station WPTV in Florida that he died in the crash. Virgin leaves behind a wife and four-month-old child.

Wednesday morning, a woman told newsnet5.com that her sister, Dianne Smoot, had been on the plane.

Andres Chavez was identified as one of the pilots of the plane. We are still waiting for the identity of the other pilot. 

Officials said there were no survivors from the crash and nine bodies were found in the wreckage.

Tuesday, a small twin-engine plane crashed into power lines, then a four-unit apartment building on Mogadore Road, causing the building and an adjacent building to catch fire. The plane landed in an embankment.

- Source:  http://www.newsnet5.com

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board are in Akron to begin investigating Tuesday's deadly plane crash.

All nine people on board the 1979 Hawker HS 125 700A twin-engine business jet were killed, when the plane crashed into a four-family apartment complex at 2:53 p.m.

Bella Dinh-Zarr, Vice-Chairman of NTSB indicated that surveillance video shows the plane flying at a low altitude and banking to the left. She revealed that the voice recorder has been recovered and is on its way to Washington, D.C.

The charter plane began its trip with two crew members and seven passengers at 6:30 a.m. Monday, flying from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Minneapolis, MN, then to Moline, IL. From there it flew to St. Louis, MO and on to Cincinnati, OH.

The crew and passengers stayed overnight in Cincinnati and departed at 10 a.m. Tuesday for Dayton. They left Dayton for Akron on Tuesday afternoon, crashing just before 3 p.m.

The plane clipped a telephone wire, hit an apartment building on Mogadore Road at Skelton Road, then crashed into an embankment behind that building.  

"The left wing hit the ground first and left a witness mark. Then the aircraft hit half of an apartment building, destroying it before running up an embankment behind the building and coming to rest," Dinh-Zarr said.

A pilot who landed at Akron Fulton International Airport just before the crash was interviewed for details. Investigators would not speculate on a cause, but said they're looking into flight control, engines, records, weather, air traffic control and operations.

Dinh-Zarr said there was no distress call from the plane before it went down.

NTSB said the agency is in the early stages of its investigation and expects to be in Akron for four to five days.

In an earlier news conference, Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Haymaker said the fact that the plane went down in a confined area will help their investigation as they continue to process the scene.

- Source:  http://www.ksla.com

Missy McMullen is escorted to her apartment to retrieve personal items, which is next to the plane crash site on Mogadore Road in Akron, OH, Wednesday, November 11, 2015. A charter plane heading to Akron-Fulton airport crashed into an apartment yesterday, and there were no survivors aboard.






Personnel from the Summit County Medical Examiner prepare to head to the plane crash scene from Forest Park Blvd., in Akron, OH, Wednesday, November 11, 2015.

Diane Smoot, 2nd from left, plane crash victim.