Sunday, March 13, 2016

The executive lane: Wealthy businesspeople commute by helicopter from Fraser Valley mansions




A Bell Jet Ranger helicopter circles a 20-acre estate in Langley, allowing a high-angle view of a private lake and 10,000-square-foot French chateau-style mansion, complete with saltwater pool and tennis courts. The chopper lands on a manicured lawn yards away from a bronze, Roman-style water fountain of the sort displayed on the grounds of Versailles.

Danny Evans, a realtor with 36 years’ experience, pops out of the helicopter and greets a crowd of realtors sipping glasses of champagne. The crowd mingles at the chateau’s massive door, hewn from Lebanese cedar and imported from a 16th-century castle.

Evans is excited specifically about the buyers interested in this 2006-built, $5.8-million home, and generally about new revenue streams coming into the Fraser Valley market.

One stream seems to be Vancouver-area executives cashing out and looking for country homes after an unprecedented injection of offshore capital has boosted the city’s home prices.

The bigger stream is offshore investors, mostly from China, who already own properties in Vancouver and are now looking for acreages outside the city.

According to Evans, both types of buyers are increasingly using helicopters to commute to and from Vancouver.

“We’re seeing a lot of Chinese flocking out to this area now and they want to get back and forth to Vancouver, so they’re very intrigued by the helicopter concept,” Evans said.

Evans said that, in 36 years, he’s never seen a hotter, more “unbelievable” market. He’s reminded of 1980-81, the last time Metro Vancouver home-price graphs curved straight up. In 1981, when interest rates soared, the market crashed. Evans says the current market will plateau, but won’t fall.

“With this new wave of buyers, you say $6 million and they don’t sneeze,” Evans said. “They are fairly guarded. We ask, ‘Can you afford a property that is $5.8 million? They say, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah, we have other property.’ ”

Evans said most of the investors he’s met are wealthy businesspeople from Mainland China, but there are also immigrants from China who now farm in B.C.

“One group pulled up in six stretch Escalades, and they had their own Chinese interpreter,” Evans said. “We’ve also seen a group from Russia and one from Iran. Some of them, you don’t really ask what their background is.”

The Langley estate is owned by developer Kent Sillars, president of Vesta Properties. Sillars is a client of Sky Helicopters, a firm that started a membership program for executives in January.

Company manager George Lacny said businesspeople choosing to sell Vancouver homes and commute from larger estates in the Fraser Valley or Vancouver Island “are the perfect candidates for our heli-service membership.”

“This is definitely a growing area of business for us,” Lacny said.

Flying from Vancouver to Langley with Danny Evans, Sky Helicopters pilot Bryce Westlund explains that wealthy offshore investors and their realtors are a growing client base.

Sky Helicopters has now flown about 70 realtors or clients of Concord Pacific — the Vancouver-area developer founded in the 1980s by Hong Kong multibillionaire Li Ka-Shing — on tours of the Fraser Valley.

“Usually we take six (Concord Pacific realtors) at a time, flying two of our smaller helicopters in formation,” Westlund said. “In one trip we covered about seven of their developments. They like getting the lay of the land.”

Green Party MLA Andrew Weaver agrees with Danny Evans that B.C.’s market has never been hotter and that offshore cash is the driver.

In contrast to Evans and many B.C. realtors, though, Weaver sees the offshore investment boom as a negative force in a “literally crazy” speculative market.

“It’s like you’re chasing Bre-X stock, and there can only be one equilibrium result,” Weaver, a mathematics PhD, said.

“It’s going to be a crash.”

Story and video: http://www.theprovince.com

Transformer stolen from Gautam Buddha Airport in Bhairahawa

Kathmandu, March 13

A high-voltage electricity transformer was stolen from the restricted area at Gautam Buddha Airport in Bhairahawa, affecting regular power supply to the major aviation navigation equipment for a week.

According to a source at GBA, flight operation department officials noticed the dysfunctional status of the VHF omni-directional range and distance measuring equipment (VOR-DME) on March 7 after 11 kilovolt power transformer was stolen from the airport premises.

VOR is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft which broadcast a VHF radio composite signal, including the station’s morse code identifier and data, allowing the airborne receiving equipment to derive a magnetic bearing from the station to the aircraft while DME is a transponder-based radio navigation technology that measures distance by timing the propagation delay of VHF or UHF radio signals.

Air traffic controllers feared that the sensitive equipment used for ground-based navigational aids could be non-functional anytime causing a serious navigation problem in the airport.

According to them, GBA is now operating an old generator in the daytime rather than installing a new transformer that costs less than Rs 7 lakhs.

“How can a power back-up generator operate VOR–DME for more than a week as the equipment must be made operational round the clock?” asked an ATC officer. The GBA uses 114.7 MHz frequency to handle navigation works.

Bhairahawa incident also reveals the sheer negligence on part of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, which operates airports across the country, for not timely replacing the transformer, according to an operation manager of a private airline.

Without sharing details, Arjun Bahadur Gurung, Maintenance Officer at GBA, has confirmed that 11 kilovolt power transformer was stolen on March 7. Airport manager Shishil Chitrakar refused to comment, saying police investigation was on.

According to district police office in Bhairahawa, the investigation is under way. “The culprits have not been identified yet,” an officer told this daily, saying the incident occurred in the restricted area.

A version of this article appears in print on March 14, 2016 of The Himalayan Times.

Original article can be found here: https://thehimalayantimes.com

Let's keep Yuma's skies pilot-friendly

Laser pointers might seem like innocent toys. They are cheap, easy to find, and can entertain cats for hours. But for pilots, they can pose serious problems.

Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma recently asked the public to take care with laser pointers, and to not point the devices at aircraft.

Yuma is known for being an aviation-friendly community. Each year, we welcome the pilots who come to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma for training, because our weather conditions are perfect for such activities.

Their concerns are valid. Officials note that over the last few months, the number of incidents involving aircraft and laser pointers have increased, including an incident with a Search and Rescue helicopter.

Beams from laser pointers, when shined toward the sky, can reach the cockpit of aircraft, and can compromise the pilot’s vision.

In fact, the FBI compares the impact to setting off a camera flash in a dark room.

It can be a distraction hazard as far up as 12,000 feet, traveling more than a mile in the air, disorienting and temporarily blinding pilots, the FBI reports.

Pilots across the United States have been forced to change direction because of laser pointers, and several have required medical attention.

Too often, people want to see how far the beam can reach. But that action isn’t without consequences. The beam can disorient a pilot, injuring or permanently damaging their eyes.

In Yuma, that problem can be compounded at night, when military pilots are wearing night vision goggles, or flying low for training.

A federal law passed in 2012 made lasing aircraft punishable by up to five years in prison, according to the FBI’s website.

It’s a dumb, dangerous thing to do, and the punishment is a steep one.

As the next MCAS Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course draws near, it’s critical that people respect the pilots, and refrain from aiming laser pointers into the skies.

Original article can be found here: http://www.yumasun.com/opinion

Inveterate aviator George Vose dies

George Vose



FORT STOCKTON – George Vose, who had been flying in light aircraft and teaching new pilots since 1941, died peacefully early Monday in a Fort Stockton nursing home.

He was 93.

“He was my flight instructor and taught me all I know,” said Cade Woodward, a flight instructor and member of the Alpine Airport Advisory Board. “His unique style was an inspiration in my career.

“He came through the Depression and World War II, a very special group of people, and was a very important addition to our lives and to our log books,” he said.

Vose did many things beyond flying, including his work on bone density and working with the U.S. astronaut program, X-Rays and wildlife tracking, Woodward said.

He was hospitalized with pneumonia last week but was released. Vose wanted to return to his home at Taurus Mesa in south Brewster County but his doctor said he needed continued health care so he was moved to the nursing home.

He died peacefully early Monday, his nephew John Robertson of Skaneateles, New York, said.

The Avalanche featured Vose in 2014 as a pilot with a certified flight instructor rating at age 92.

Federal rules require commercial airline pilots to retire at age 65 but private pilots can fly as long as they can maintain their health certificates.

“The hardest part now is getting in and out of the airplane,” he said in June 2014.

Vose had two knee replacements and got around with the aid of a cane. His lone airplane in Alpine was a high-wing Cessna 172, though he also had a part interest in a Piper J3 Cub based in Denton.

Low-wing airplanes that require climbing onto the wing to gain entry are “out of the question,” he said.

Vose got his first lesson in an Aeronca Chief in 1941 and two years later was giving indoctrination training to potential military cadets as a civilian flight instructor in Piper L4s, the military designation for the popular Cub.

Since those days, he trained more than 2,500 pilots, many going on to careers including as airline pilots. “I’m so old, many of my students are retiring,” Vose said.

Over his long career, he flew radio-telemetry wildlife tracking for various government agencies. The first “run” was on a peregrine falcon, tracking the bird from Texas Padre Island to Lake Superior where it entered Canada.

He flew author Alan Tennant on some of his falcon-tracking ventures described in his best-selling book, “On the Wing.”

And he flew a BBC photographer over the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

During the war, Vose was assigned to Sheppard Air Force Base near Wichita Falls.

“I hated Texas,” he said. “I hated Wichita Falls. I never wanted to see Texas again.”

Vose moved to Bakersfield, California, saying he would never go back to Texas.

But he drove through the Big Bend area in 1952 and liked it. Later, while working for Texas State College for Women in Denton, now Texas Woman’s University, he met Assistant Comptroller Jim Whitehead, who had graduated from Sul Ross State University.

“I asked him how I might buy some land in Brewster ‘South County.’ He advised me to subscribe to the Alpine Avalanche,” he said.

Responding to an ad in the paper, Vose said he found 1,600 acres about 50 air miles south of Alpine “when land was very cheap.”

He bought it in 1977 and began building an adobe home and laying out four gravel-surface runways 3,500 to 5,000 feet long.

Vose built his Taurus Mesa adobe home almost completely by himself.

He laid out three runways, plus one leading to his home. He sold land along the main runways for residents to build homes so they could have quick access to the airfield.

He hosted fly-ins and barbecues at Taurus Mesa in the fall and friends came from around the world.

He lived there ever since.

Woodward said Vose did not want a funeral. Instead, friends and family are planning a future fly-in, which could include a flyover to spread his ashes over Taurus Mesa.

Original article can be found here: http://www.alpineavalanche.com

Cessna 182A Skylane, N2230G: Fatal accident occurred March 13, 2016 near Alpine Airport (46U), Lincoln County, Wyoming

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

NTSB Identification: WPR16FA084
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, March 13, 2016 in Alpine, WY
Probable Cause Approval Date: 11/06/2017
Aircraft: CESSNA 182A, registration: N2230G
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 noninstrument-rated, private pilot and three passengers were departing in dark night conditions with the moon below the horizon. The area along the flight route was unpopulated with few lights in the immediate vicinity. A handheld GPS unit found in the wreckage revealed that, shortly after becoming airborne, the airplane made a climbing 360° turn from about 20 to 425 ft above ground level (agl). The airplane then maintained a heading toward the destination for about 30 seconds, never climbing above about 550 ft agl. During the last seconds of the flight, the airplane made a descending right turn likely because the pilot experienced a loss of visual reference due to the dark night conditions. Ground scar analysis, impact signatures, and wreckage fragmentation patterns indicated that the airplane impacted terrain in a nose-low attitude, consistent with the airplane stalling before impact. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The noninstrument-rated pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during the initial climb in dark night conditions with no visual reference, which resulted in a stall and collision with terrain.



Heidi and Thomas “Brook” Summers

Jessica and David Anderson


The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Salt Lake City, Utah
Textron Aviation; Wichita, Kansas
Teledyne Continental Motors; Mobile, Alabama

Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms

http://registry.faa.gov/N2230G



NTSB Identification: WPR16FA084
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, March 13, 2016 in Alpine, WY
Aircraft: CESSNA 182A, registration: N2230G
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.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On March 13, 2016, at 0227 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182A airplane, N2230G, collided with terrain shortly after departing from Alpine Airport, Alpine, Wyoming. The private pilot and three passengers sustained fatal injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal cross-country flight. The flight was departing from Alpine with an assumed destination of Rigby Airport, Rigby, Idaho. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the departure airport about the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed.

A resident, who lived on the east side of the runway at Alpine Airport, stated that he heard the airplane land on March 12 about 1930 and heard the airplane depart about 0230 the next day. He stated that the departure sounded normal but without the typical "slow fade away of the prop noise." The noise had just suddenly stopped, which he thought was unusual enough that he looked out the window and only observed some stars with a few clouds.

According to a saloon employee, the pilot and passengers had visited Alpine on numerous occasions, where they would usually have dinner at the Bull Moose Saloon; it is unknown how many flights they had conducted to Alpine previously, but they had driven there many times. She recalled that they arrived about 2000 and left about 0200. She stated that they were in a good mood the entire time and did not notice any anomalies. She stated that the pilot did not drink alcohol while he was at the tavern.

A Garmin GPSMAP 396, battery-powered portable GPS receiver was located in the wreckage. The unit included a built-in Jeppesen database and was capable of receiving XM satellite radio for flight information. The unit stored date, route-of-flight, and flight-time information; all recorded data were stored in nonvolatile memory.

Recorded data plots were recovered for the timeframe that matched the airplane's anticipated flight track after departing from Alpine. The track indicated that the airplane departed from runway 31 at 0224:35. After becoming airborne, the airplane continued over the runway until reaching the departure end, where it made a climbing 360° left turn from about 5,650 to 6,075 ft mean sea level (msl or about 20 to 425 ft above ground level [agl], respectively). The airplane maintained a northwest heading for about 30 seconds, never climbing above 6,200 ft msl (550 ft agl).

The last four data points of the flight track occurred over 7 seconds from 0226:33 to 0226:40. During that time, the speed increased from 71 to 104 knots, and the altitude decreased about 350 ft while entering a descending right turn (the direction of travel changed from 300° true to 32° true). The last recorded point was timestamped 0226:40 and showed the airplane about 500 ft southwest of the accident site at 5,859 ft msl with a groundspeed of 104 knots.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land rating. His third-class medical certificate was issued on April 12, 2012, with no limitations. The pilot's personal flight records were not recovered.

The airplane's owner stated that the pilot had recently obtained his pilot's license and started borrowing the airplane about 2 months before the accident. The pilot was checked out in the airplane by a flight instructor and was free to use it as he pleased. The pilot sent the owner a text at 1912 on the night of the accident stating that he was going to take the airplane flying.

AIRPLANE INFORMATION

The airplane, serial number 51530, was manufactured in 1958. It was equipped with a Continental Motors O-470-L engine, serial number 68518-8-L. A review of the airplane's maintenance logbooks revealed that the airframe's last annual inspection occurred on December 03, 2015, at a total time of about 2,505.6 hours, at which time the engine underwent its last 100-hour inspection, at a tachometer time of 1,393.6 hours.

According to the airport manager, the airplane was not refueled in Alpine. The airplane owner estimated that, at the time of the accident, the airplane would have had about 48 gallons of fuel. The amount of fuel in each wing tank could not be determined.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

A METAR generated by an Automated Surface Observation System at the airport indicated that, about the time of the accident, the conditions were as follows: wind was from 060° at 4 knots, temperature 6°F, dew point -1°F, and altimeter setting 29.87 inches of mercury.

According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, on the morning of the accident, the sun rose at 0739. At the time of the accident, the moon was about 28° below the northwestern horizon; the phase of the moon was waxing crescent with 25% of the moon's visible disk illuminated.




WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The accident site was located on hard snow-and-gravel terrain along the shoreline of the Palisades Reservoir, located about 1 mile northwest of the runway. The entire wreckage sustained thermal damage, and the cockpit was consumed by fire. The debris field stretched from west to east and was about 50 yards long and 35 yards wide. At the beginning of the debris field, the propeller was found embedded in a crater about 3 ft deep and 8 ft wide.

The destination airport in Rigby, Idaho (elevation 4,845 ft msl), was about 47 nautical miles (nm) from Alpine Airport (elevation 5,630 ft msl) on a bearing of about 310°. A valley extended between the two airports with peaks on either side reaching up to 8,000 ft msl. The surrounding area was unpopulated with few lights in the immediate vicinity. The flight data indicated that the airplane had flown between the airports on prior occasions; however, it could not be determined if the pilot flew those trips.

TESTS AND RESEARCH

Following recovery, the wreckage was examined at a facility in Greeley, Colorado. The wreckage was partially consumed by fire. The intensity of the thermal damage in the cockpit area prohibited investigators from being able to establish complete flight control continuity.

An external examination of the engine revealed that all cylinders were secured to the crankcase. Both the exhaust and induction systems sustained impact damage. The carburetor had separated, and only a portion of the bowl remained attached to the mixture cable in the lower cowling wreckage. The carburetor throttle plate and control arm remained attached to the damaged throttle cable. The throttle control arm remained attached to the carburetor base and throttle plate shaft.

Removal of the top spark plugs revealed that the No. 3 plug was covered in mud. According to the Continental Motor's Group representative, the remaining spark plugs revealed evidence of normal wear conditions and combustion deposits. Engine internal continuity was confirmed by manually rotating the engine. The pistons moved normally inside the cylinders. The rear accessory gears rotated normally. Thumb compression could not be achieved due to impact damage. The combustion chambers remained mechanically undamaged, and there was no evidence of foreign object ingestion (preimpact) or detonation. The valves were intact and undamaged. No evidence of valve-to-piston face contact was observed.

The engine oil sump was crushed upward against the internal engine components. The engine oil pump remained attached. The oil screen was removed and inspected, and no abnormal contaminants were found on the oil screen. The oil cooler had separated but was recovered.
Both the right and left magnetos had separated from their mounts but remained attached to the ignition harness. Both magnetos exhibited thermal damage. The magnetos could not be functionally tested due to thermal damage. Both magnetos were partially disassembled to examine the internal components, and all components were thermally damaged.

The propeller had separated from the engine crankshaft. Both propeller blades remained attached to the hub but were loose in the hub housing. Both blades exhibited chordwise scratching and gouging with deep gouging along the leading edge of one of them. Both propeller blades were bent rearward and thermally damaged.

There was no evidence of mechanical malfunction or failure with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. A complete examination report is contained in the public docket for this accident.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

The Lincoln County Coroner's Office stated that it was unable to conduct an autopsy of the pilot due to the thermal damage.

The FAA's Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory performed toxicological tests on specimens from the pilot. According to the toxicological report, the results were negative for ethanol (alcohol) and other tested drugs.

NTSB Identification: WPR16FA084
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, March 13, 2016 in Alpine, WY
Aircraft: CESSNA 182A, registration: N2230G
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 March 13, 2016, about 0230 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182A, N2230G, collided with terrain shortly after departing from Alpine Airport, Alpine, Wyoming. The airplane was registered and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot and three passenger sustained fatal injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight was departing from Alpine with an assumed destination of Rigby Airport, Rigby, Idaho. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed.

A resident at the Alpine Airport stated that he heard the airplane land on March 12 about 1930. The pilot and passengers then went to a local restaurant for the night. The resident heard them depart about 0230 on March 13. The departure sounded normal but he could not discern the slow fading of noise of a takeoff that he could normally hear during a departure due to the orientation of the mountains.

The airplane wreckage was located about 1.5 mile north-northwest of the runway and was consumed by fire. The wreckage was recovered for further examination. The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Salt Lake City, Utah
Textron Aviation; Wichita, Kansas
Teledyne Continental Motors; Mobile, Alabama

Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms

http://registry.faa.gov/N2230G

NTSB Identification: WPR16FA084
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, March 13, 2016 in Alpine, WY
Aircraft: CESSNA 182A, registration: N2230G
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.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On March 13, 2016, at 0227 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182A airplane, N2230G, collided with terrain shortly after departing from Alpine Airport, Alpine, Wyoming. The private pilot and three passengers sustained fatal injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal cross-country flight. The flight was departing from Alpine with an assumed destination of Rigby Airport, Rigby, Idaho. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the departure airport about the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed.

A resident, who lived on the east side of the runway at Alpine Airport, stated that he heard the airplane land on March 12 about 1930 and heard the airplane depart about 0230 the next day. He stated that the departure sounded normal but without the typical "slow fade away of the prop noise." The noise had just suddenly stopped, which he thought was unusual enough that he looked out the window and only observed some stars with a few clouds.

According to a saloon employee, the pilot and passengers had visited Alpine on numerous occasions, where they would usually have dinner at the Bull Moose Saloon; it is unknown how many flights they had conducted to Alpine previously, but they had driven there many times. She recalled that they arrived about 2000 and left about 0200. She stated that they were in a good mood the entire time and did not notice any anomalies. She stated that the pilot did not drink alcohol while he was at the tavern.

A Garmin GPSMAP 396, battery-powered portable GPS receiver was located in the wreckage. The unit included a built-in Jeppesen database and was capable of receiving XM satellite radio for flight information. The unit stored date, route-of-flight, and flight-time information; all recorded data were stored in nonvolatile memory.

Recorded data plots were recovered for the timeframe that matched the airplane's anticipated flight track after departing from Alpine. The track indicated that the airplane departed from runway 31 at 0224:35. After becoming airborne, the airplane continued over the runway until reaching the departure end, where it made a climbing 360° left turn from about 5,650 to 6,075 ft mean sea level (msl or about 20 to 425 ft above ground level [agl], respectively). The airplane maintained a northwest heading for about 30 seconds, never climbing above 6,200 ft msl (550 ft agl).

The last four data points of the flight track occurred over 7 seconds from 0226:33 to 0226:40. During that time, the speed increased from 71 to 104 knots, and the altitude decreased about 350 ft while entering a descending right turn (the direction of travel changed from 300° true to 32° true). The last recorded point was timestamped 0226:40 and showed the airplane about 500 ft southwest of the accident site at 5,859 ft msl with a groundspeed of 104 knots.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land rating. His third-class medical certificate was issued on April 12, 2012, with no limitations. The pilot's personal flight records were not recovered.

The airplane's owner stated that the pilot had recently obtained his pilot's license and started borrowing the airplane about 2 months before the accident. The pilot was checked out in the airplane by a flight instructor and was free to use it as he pleased. The pilot sent the owner a text at 1912 on the night of the accident stating that he was going to take the airplane flying.

AIRPLANE INFORMATION

The airplane, serial number 51530, was manufactured in 1958. It was equipped with a Continental Motors O-470-L engine, serial number 68518-8-L. A review of the airplane's maintenance logbooks revealed that the airframe's last annual inspection occurred on December 03, 2015, at a total time of about 2,505.6 hours, at which time the engine underwent its last 100-hour inspection, at a tachometer time of 1,393.6 hours.

According to the airport manager, the airplane was not refueled in Alpine. The airplane owner estimated that, at the time of the accident, the airplane would have had about 48 gallons of fuel. The amount of fuel in each wing tank could not be determined.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

A METAR generated by an Automated Surface Observation System at the airport indicated that, about the time of the accident, the conditions were as follows: wind was from 060° at 4 knots, temperature 6°F, dew point -1°F, and altimeter setting 29.87 inches of mercury.

According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, on the morning of the accident, the sun rose at 0739. At the time of the accident, the moon was about 28° below the northwestern horizon; the phase of the moon was waxing crescent with 25% of the moon's visible disk illuminated.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The accident site was located on hard snow-and-gravel terrain along the shoreline of the Palisades Reservoir, located about 1 mile northwest of the runway. The entire wreckage sustained thermal damage, and the cockpit was consumed by fire. The debris field stretched from west to east and was about 50 yards long and 35 yards wide. At the beginning of the debris field, the propeller was found embedded in a crater about 3 ft deep and 8 ft wide.

The destination airport in Rigby, Idaho (elevation 4,845 ft msl), was about 47 nautical miles (nm) from Alpine Airport (elevation 5,630 ft msl) on a bearing of about 310°. A valley extended between the two airports with peaks on either side reaching up to 8,000 ft msl. The surrounding area was unpopulated with few lights in the immediate vicinity. The flight data indicated that the airplane had flown between the airports on prior occasions; however, it could not be determined if the pilot flew those trips.

TESTS AND RESEARCH

Following recovery, the wreckage was examined at a facility in Greeley, Colorado. The wreckage was partially consumed by fire. The intensity of the thermal damage in the cockpit area prohibited investigators from being able to establish complete flight control continuity.

An external examination of the engine revealed that all cylinders were secured to the crankcase. Both the exhaust and induction systems sustained impact damage. The carburetor had separated, and only a portion of the bowl remained attached to the mixture cable in the lower cowling wreckage. The carburetor throttle plate and control arm remained attached to the damaged throttle cable. The throttle control arm remained attached to the carburetor base and throttle plate shaft.

Removal of the top spark plugs revealed that the No. 3 plug was covered in mud. According to the Continental Motor's Group representative, the remaining spark plugs revealed evidence of normal wear conditions and combustion deposits. Engine internal continuity was confirmed by manually rotating the engine. The pistons moved normally inside the cylinders. The rear accessory gears rotated normally. Thumb compression could not be achieved due to impact damage. The combustion chambers remained mechanically undamaged, and there was no evidence of foreign object ingestion (preimpact) or detonation. The valves were intact and undamaged. No evidence of valve-to-piston face contact was observed.

The engine oil sump was crushed upward against the internal engine components. The engine oil pump remained attached. The oil screen was removed and inspected, and no abnormal contaminants were found on the oil screen. The oil cooler had separated but was recovered.
Both the right and left magnetos had separated from their mounts but remained attached to the ignition harness. Both magnetos exhibited thermal damage. The magnetos could not be functionally tested due to thermal damage. Both magnetos were partially disassembled to examine the internal components, and all components were thermally damaged.

The propeller had separated from the engine crankshaft. Both propeller blades remained attached to the hub but were loose in the hub housing. Both blades exhibited chordwise scratching and gouging with deep gouging along the leading edge of one of them. Both propeller blades were bent rearward and thermally damaged.

There was no evidence of mechanical malfunction or failure with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. A complete examination report is contained in the public docket for this accident.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

The Lincoln County Coroner's Office stated that it was unable to conduct an autopsy of the pilot due to the thermal damage.

The FAA's Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory performed toxicological tests on specimens from the pilot. According to the toxicological report, the results were negative for ethanol (alcohol) and other tested drugs.

NTSB Identification: WPR16FA084
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, March 13, 2016 in Alpine, WY
Aircraft: CESSNA 182A, registration: N2230G
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 March 13, 2016, about 0230 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182A, N2230G, collided with terrain shortly after departing from Alpine Airport, Alpine, Wyoming. The airplane was registered and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot and three passenger sustained fatal injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight was departing from Alpine with an assumed destination of Rigby Airport, Rigby, Idaho. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed.

A resident at the Alpine Airport stated that he heard the airplane land on March 12 about 1930. The pilot and passengers then went to a local restaurant for the night. The resident heard them depart about 0230 on March 13. The departure sounded normal but he could not discern the slow fading of noise of a takeoff that he could normally hear during a departure due to the orientation of the mountains.

The airplane wreckage was located about 1.5 mile north-northwest of the runway and was consumed by fire. The wreckage was recovered for further examination.

A fund has been established for the family of David and Jessica Anderson/GoFundMe


Thomas “Brook” Summers, a dentist, and his wife Heidi, were two of the four victims of Sunday’s plane crash in rural Bonneville County. A donation account has been set up at Zions Bank to benefit the couple’s children. Donations will be accepted at any Zions Bank location in Idaho Falls.





IDAHO FALLS — A fund has been established for the children of a couple killed in a plane crash Sunday morning.

David and Jessica Anderson, along with Thomas “Brook” and Heidi Summers, all died in the crash north of Alpine, Wyoming, near Palisades Reservoir.

The Anderson’s leave behind three children – ages 15, 13 and 10.

A GoFundMe page, created by a close family friend Tuesday morning, says all proceeds will be set aside for the Anderson kids with the guardian determining where to use the funds.

“These kids will need these funds. Their whole life just changed and got really hard for all of them. There was no will and we are not sure about life insurance for the kids. If you can please donate, even a small amount will help these very special kids,” according to the GoFundMe account.

An account has also been set up for the Summers children at Zions Bank. Donations to the fund can be made at any bank location. Donors should ask for the “Brook and Heidi Summers” account.


Original article can be found here: http://www.eastidahonews.com

Dr. T. Brook Summers, D.D.S.: http://www.familydentalhealth.com 


The four people who died in a plane crash near the Palisades Reservoir over the weekend have been identified.

Thomas “Brook” Summers, 39, a local dentist, his wife Heidi, 36; Jerry “Dave” Anderson, 40, a sales representative at Andersen Hitches, and his wife Jessica, 38, all perished after a small airplane crashed one mile north of the Alpine, Wyo., Airport, a Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office news release said.

The plane, piloted by Dave Anderson, crashed shortly after taking off from the Alpine airport early Sunday. The National Transportation and Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Ryan Andersen, owner of Andersen Hitches, said all the victims were great people who cared deeply about their families. Andersen said Dave Anderson was a “family guy,” and leaves behind three children ages 10 to 15.

“He was a really fun guy to everyone around him … he was real, you know he was real,” Andersen said.

He said Dave Anderson had a lot of family in the area and his children will be well taken care of.

The Summers were the Andersons’ neighbors and they have four children. Andersen said his children are best friends with the Summers’ children.

“They’re just great people,” Andersen said. “What a great two couples.”

Employees at Family Dental Health Center, where Brook Summers worked, declined to comment.

A donation account has been set up at Zions Bank to benefit the Summers children. Donations will be accepted at any Zions Bank location in Idaho Falls.

Bonneville County Sheriff’s Sgt. Karl Noah said a cause for the crash remains under investigation. The accident occurred many hours prior to the call for assistance, a Sheriff’s Office news release said. The airplane, a 1958 Cessna four-passenger plane, was completely burned.

Investigators continue to gather forensic identification of the bodies and remove crash debris from the site, the release said.

This marks the fourth small airplane crash and third fatal plane crash near the Palisades Reservoir in the past year.

• On Aug. 27 two Idaho Falls men survived a crash north of Irwin when their two-seater airplane hit a wire strung over the South Fork of the Snake River.

• On Oct. 15 an Oklahoma man died and a teen girl survived after a two-seater airplane crashed in the Little Elk Creek drainage east of the reservoir.

• On Jan. 4 a Pennsylvania man and a North Carolina teen died after a two-seater plane nosedived into the ground near the reservoir.

Original article can be found here: http://www.postregister.com



Thomas “Brook” and Heidi Summers



Jessica and David Anderson


The four people who died in a plane crash near the Palisades Reservoir over the weekend have been identified.


Thomas “Brook” Summers, 39, a local dentist, his wife Heidi, 36,; Jerry “Dave” Anderson, 40,, a sales representative at Andersen Hitches, and his wife Jessica, 38, all perished after a small airplane crashed one mile north of the Alpine Wyoming Airport, a Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office news release said.


The plane, piloted by Dave Anderson, crashed shortly after taking off from the Alpine, Wyo., airport early Sunday. The National Transportation and Safety Board is investigating the crash.


Ryan Andersen, owner of Andersen Hitches, said all the victims were great people who cared deeply about their families. Andersen said Dave Anderson was a “family guy,” and leaves behind three children ages 10 to 15.


“He was a really fun guy to everyone around him … he was real, you know he was real,” Andersen said.


He said Dave Anderson had a lot of family in the area and his children will be well taken care of.


The Summers were Dave Anderson’s neighbors and they have four children. Andersen said his children are best friends with the Summers children.


“They’re just great people,” Andersen said. “What a great two couples.”


Employees at Family Dental Health Center, where Brook Summers worked, did not want to comment.


Bonneville County Sheriff’s Sgt. Karl Noah said a cause for the crash remains under investigation. The accident occurred many hours prior to the call of assistance, a Sheriff’s Office news release said. The airplane, a 1958 Cessna four-passenger plane, was completely burned.


Investigators continue to gather forensic identification of the bodies and remove crash debris from the site, Noah said.


Original article can be found here: http://www.postregister.com


David and Jessica Anderson


Dave Anderson and his wife, Jessica.


IDAHO FALLS — Bonneville County sheriff investigators have released the names of four people killed in a plane crash north of Alpine, Wyoming, near Palisades Reservoir.

Thomas “Brook” Summers, 39, and Heidi Summers, 36, along with Jerry “David” Anderson, 40, and Jessica Anderson, 38, all died in the crash that occurred hours before they were found Sunday afternoon. All of the victims were from Idaho Falls.


Brook Summers was a dentist at Family Dental Health Center in Idaho Falls. According to a biography on the company website, he and Heidi had four children.


David and Jessica Anderson were the parents of three children, according to Ryan Andersen (no relation), the president of Andersen Hitches. David Anderson had worked with the company for the past 11 years.


“He was such a great guy and took care of business very well,” Andersen told EastIdahoNews.com. “Most importantly he was a family guy. Everything was about his family.”


Andersen says David got his pilot’s license last fall and was piloting the plane when it went down.


Investigators are on the scene working to determine what caused the accident.


The airplane was a four-passenger, 1958 Cessna, 182A, single engine, fixed-wing, according to investigators. The plane left the Alpine airport early Sunday morning and crashed shortly after takeoff.


The National Transportation Safety Board is now in charge of the investigation.


The Summers and Anderson families were well-known in east Idaho, and Andersen said losing them is devastating.


“Dave cared about everyone and was a super friendly guy,” he said. “We’re really going to miss him.”



Original article can be found here:   http://www.eastidahonews.com

Jessica and David Anderson


Brook Summers


BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho -  The Bonneville County sheriff's office has released the names of the two couples killed in a plane crash Sunday. 

Jerry "David" Anderson, 40, the pilot of the plane, and his wife Jessica Ann Anderson, 38, were killed.   Thomas "Brook" Summers, 39, and his wife Heidi Summers, 36, were also killed in the crash.

The Anderson's have three children.   David worked for Anderson Hitches in Idaho Falls. 

The Summers' have four children.   Brook was a dentist at Family Dental Health Center in Idaho Falls. 

Bonneville County Sheriff office said the airplane was a 4 passenger, 1958 Cessna, 182A, single engine, fixed wing.

The plane left the Alpine, Wyoming airport in the early morning hours Sunday and crashed shortly after take off.   It crashed about a mile from the airport, they reported. 

The crash was not reported to the sheriff office until late afternoon.  

This is the fourth plane accident to happen in the Alpine area since August 2015. 

Original article can be found here:   http://www.localnews8.com

David and Jessica Anderson


BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho - Four people are dead after a small plane crashed near the Palisades Reservoir in Eastern Idaho Sunday afternoon.

The Bonneville County Sheriff's Office confirms that two men and two women were killed in the crash along the Idaho-Wyoming border.

According to Lt. Kevin Casper, the four-seat Cessna took off from the airport in Alpine, Wyoming and went down just minutes later north of the reservoir. The crash was reported at about 1 p.m.

The names and ages of the deceased are being held until family members have been notified.

Casper said the plane was completely burned. 

Original article can be found here:   http://www.ktvb.com

On March 13, 2016 at 1:39 p.m. the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office responded to a small airplane accident 1 mile North of the Alpine Wyoming Airport. 

The accident location was near China Beach on the Palisades Reservoir in Bonneville County.

This accident had occurred many hours prior to the call for assistance.

The aircraft was completely burned.

At this time we can only confirm that two adult males and two adult females died in the accident. We are not able to confirm the names due to pending family notifications.

Bonneville County Back Country Deputies, Forest Service Law Enforcement, Alpine and Swan Valley EMS, along with Bonneville County Search and Rescue responded to the scene.