New details released in plane crash that killed 9 members of prominent Idaho family
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)- The National Transportation Safety Board has released more information on a plane crash that killed nine members of a prominent Idaho family.
James Hansen, Jim Hansen, Kirk Hansen, Stockton Hansen, Logan Hansen, Kyle Naylor, Tyson Dennert, Jake Hansen, and Houston Hansen all died when the Pilatus PC-12 they were in crashed in Chamberlain, South Dakota in November 2019.
The preliminary reports include witness statements, photos from the scene, and the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder. Which can be found here.
Witness accounts report seeing the pilot and a passenger spending "about 3 hrs. to remove the snow and ice that had accumulated on the
airplane overnight. There was less than about 1/4-inch of ice on the airplane when they started. He commented that the ladder they brought from the lodge was approximately 7 feet tall and did not allow them to get to the top of the tail."
The witness asked the pilot not to head out, mentioning they had room for them to stay another night at the lodge.
The pilot declined, saying they needed to get home, telling the witness "the airplane was 98% good and the remaining ice would come off during takeoff."
Another witness was at his mother-in-law’s house near the airport when he heard the plane take off. He sent an email to investigators saying it was “snowing so hard I could not see the plane. Her (mother-in-law’s) house sits where a person can look straight down the runway from the living room window.” He mentioned that the plane did not go over the house like all of the others do.
Cell phone video and photos of the plane taken from the runaway show icicles and snow on the aircraft immediately before takeoff.
Among the documents released was the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder.
The recorder picked up conversations, both among the pilot and a passenger, and the pilot and airport employees.
A final report on the accident has not yet been released.
