NTSB Recovers Cockpit Voice Recorder in Deadly Addison Plane Crash: ‘Comments of Confusion’

Update at 12:00pm:

Federal officials investigating the crash of a small plane that killed 10 at the Addison Municipal Airport say they’ve recovered the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder.

National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said the recording 2 hours of high quality audio including the accident.
The recording had confused comments from the crew and that the plane had problems with the left engine. Landsberg said they are waiting to get the audio transcribed but this is all the information they can give at this time. Dr. Jennifer Rodi lead investigator with the NTSB said they are in the process of the wreckage recovery and runway sweep.

“To ensure there was nothing with the airport environment that may have contributed to the crash and to ensure they were no parts of the air frame that separated during departure,” she said.

Investigators are also looking into the Pilot’s flight history and certifications, including the relationship to the co-pilot. Landsberg said they got in contact with a pilot who has flown with the pilot of the crashed plane. “That pilot said he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary,” Landsberg said.

Landsberg said they now have 4 video recordings from different vantage points of the crash,which will help further tthe investigation.

Investigators have also retrieved both engines and will determine what happened.

This is a developing story check back for updates. 

 

 

 

conference Monday afternoon that the contents of the recorder are being downloaded in their Washington laboratory. He says they don’t yet know what’s on the recorder. He notes that the communications between the pilots and air traffic control appeared normal.

 

Original Story:

ADDISON, Texas (AP) – Federal officials say two crew members and eight passengers were killed when a small, twin-engine plane crashed into a hangar during takeoff at the Addison Municipal Airport.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the Super King Air 350 veered to the left, rolled over and clipped the hangar. The entire plane was destroyed by fire.

National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said the plane crashed at 9:11 a.m. Sunday. He said the FAA is looking into pilot records and certifications. He said flying this type of aircraft requires specific certifications.

The plane did have electronic recording equipment that could explain what happened.

“Our team recovered the cockpit voice recorder, it’s being downloaded now in the NTSB Washington Lab and what we are most interested in is the internal cockpit conversation between the pilot and the copilot,” Landsberg said.

He said they are hopeful to get this recording by Tuesday.

Landsberg says the plane was headed to St. Petersburg, Florida.

Jennifer Rodi, the NTSB’s lead investigator on the accident, said it had previously been owned by a private charter company in Chicago.

Rodi said the landing gear was down at the time of the crash and other systems were destroyed from the fire.

Witnesses who saw a small plane crash say it struggled on takeoff and appeared to lose power.

David Snell, who was getting ready to fly from Addison with a friend Sunday morning, told KDFW TV that the plane didn’t sound right on takeoff.

He says: “It looked like it was clearly reduced power. I didn’t know if it was on purpose or not, but then, when the plane started to veer to the left, and you could tell it couldn’t climb. My friend and I looked at each other and we’re like, `Oh my God. They’re going to crash,”‘

Peter Drake says he saw the plane crash into the hangar.

The plane “got onto the runway, went down the runway, started taking off. He got to about 200 feet, and I saw him starting to lose power and his altitude, and then I see him just roll over and came straight down right into the building,” Drake said.

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