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Crash Kills Pilot of Cargo Plane

Posted on: Friday, 5 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

A cargo plane pilot trying to land at Centennial Airport died early Thursday in the third fatal crash near the Arapahoe County aviation center in eight months.

The male pilot, whose name was not released, was the only person aboard the aircraft that was reported missing after the control tower cleared it for landing around 2 a.m. then lost radar contact.

The Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 was the same model as another plane that crashed near the airport in December, killing two people, and was owned by the same company, Flight Line Inc., a Watkins firm that transports canceled bank checks.

The ground near the aircraft was littered with checks, according to searchers who located the wreckage around 7 a.m. in a ravine four miles south of the airport in Douglas County.

Officials with Flight Line declined to comment.

The twin-engine turboprop plane, built in 1981, was flying from Salt Lake City to Centennial Airport, said Becky O'Guin, of the Parker Fire District.

The plane had circled east before attempting to land, said Andy Lyon, of South Metro Fire and Rescue.

"It looked right in line to land," Lyon said.

A Denver police helicopter spotted the crash site just north of the new Rueter-Hess Reservoir in Douglas County and three miles east of Interstate 25.

The plane apparently struck the ground and bounced before skidding nose-first into the ravine, which is about 15 feet deep, said Bill Clendenning, of Douglas Search and Rescue.

Clendenning was one of the first people at the crash site. He tried to remove the pilot but was forced out of the wreckage by a fuel leak and drifting smoke.

"You don't want to be down there when that happens," he said.

Heavy rain and muddy terrain made locating the plane and retrieving the body difficult.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were still at the crash site late Thursday.

It could take several days to determine the cause of the crash, said Ralph Sorrells, deputy general manager of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, who also was at the accident site.

Thursday's accident brings to six the number of people killed in crashes near Centennial Airport since December.

A twin-engine Cessna 421 crashed shortly after takeoff on Dec. 17, killing three people. Exactly a week earlier, a Flight Line plane crashed in a business park after taking off from Centennial, killing two people.

Fuel problems caused the crash of the Cessna, according to the NTSB, which still hasn't determined what brought down the first Mitsubishi.

Sorrells said his company's plane meets all safety requirements, but others in the aircraft industry raise concerns about the Mitsubishi MU-2B-60.

"This is a unique airplane designed with spoilers," said Ladd Sanger, an aviation attorney in Texas who has been a pilot for nearly 20 years.

"Spoilers kill the lift of the wings. Over a quarter of these airplanes have been involved in an accident at one time or another."

Sanger said most planes use ailerons attached on the edge - in contrast to spoilers, which are attached in the center - to control the wings. He also said that most companies that use the MU-2B-60 do so because the plane is cheap and fast.

"This accident speaks volumes about this airplane," Sanger said of Thursday's crash. "It's dangerous and requires pilots with significant skills to fly."

There have been 27 accidents, including Thursday's crash, in the U.S. involving that model of aircraft in the past 25 years, according to the NTSB. Fifty-five people have died in those crashes.

Sorrells said his company recommends that those flying the plane undergo simulator sessions with SimCom Business and General Aviation Training. No pilots who completed that training have crashed in the aircraft, he said.

"You don't need to be a professional pilot to fly this plane," he said. "But you need to fly it professionally."

INFOBOX

Fatal Centennial Airport crashes

Dec. 10, 2004

* Aircraft model: Mitsubishi MU-2B-60

* Victims: Pilot Paul Krysiak, 28, of Aurora; and co-pilot James T. Presba, 25, of Lone Tree

* What happened: The plane crashed near a business park south of E-470 soon after takeoff.

* Cause: Unknown

Dec. 17, 2004

* Model: Cessna 421

* Victims: Nadia Barghelame, 20, of Fort Collins; Craig Markley, 72, of Fort Collins; and Roy Crain, 60, of Taylor, Mich.

* What happened: The plane crashed shortly after takeoff.

* Cause: The National Transportation Safety Board said fuel- control equipment for one of the engines restricted fuel flow.

Thursday

* Model: Mitsubishi MU-2B-60

* Victims: Pilot, unidentified

* What happened: The plane crashed in a rural area in Douglas County before landing.

* Cause: Unknown

Source: Rocky Mountain News

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