By Tim Bragg
Fresno Bee (California)
Copyright 2006 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
VISALIA, Calif. — Federal authorities are investigating whether the pilot of a California Department of Forestry plane may have been flying too low — one of many factors that could have caused the plane to crash above Springville on Sept. 6, killing the pilot and a fire battalion chief.
According to a preliminary report released this week by the National Transportation Safety Board, the CDF OV-10A Bronco spotter plane that crashed was observed by witnesses along Bear Creek Road flying about 400 to 600 feet over Bear Creek to the fires near the Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest.
NTSB officials are investigating whether the plane was flying at a lower-than-authorized altitude and whether that caused the crash, said Wayne Pollack, a senior air safety investigator with the NTSB’s southwest regional office. He said that is one of many factors being probed.
The report said the plane struck trees estimated to be 125 feet tall, and noted the plane’s estimated weight at takeoff was 10,413 pounds, just below the plane’s maximum gross weight of 10,500 pounds.
Prosecutors are pondering whether to file criminal charges over a series of small forest fires that were being observed by a spotter plane when it crashed.
Robert Paul Stone, 36, of Visalia, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and his pilot, George “Sandy” Willett, 52, of Hanford, were circling the area where the fires were burning at in a CDF plane when it crashed.
They were on a mission to observe and help direct firefighters on the ground.
Tulare County Fire and CDF Tulare Unit Chief Ed Wristen said Tuesday that officials have created a report on three small wildland fires near Balch Park in the Tulare County mountains that occurred around the Labor Day weekend and have forwarded it to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office.
The District Attorney’s Office received the report and is in the process of deciding whether any charges should be filed in the case, said Assistant District Attorney Carol Turner. She said it could take a week or more for attorneys to make a decision.
Wristen declined to say who or what caused the fires, or whether they were sparked accidentally or intentionally.
Wristen said investigators have ruled out some natural causes for the fires, but said he couldn’t comment further. He said the largest of the fires was only about 2 acres.
Earlier, prosecutors said anyone found responsible for starting the fires Stone and Willett were observing could face criminal charges in the men’s deaths -- but only if the fires were proved to be caused intentionally.
According to the NTSB report, the pilot didn’t communicate to ground controllers about any problems with the plane or any unusual events before the crash.
The plane crashed into trees in a boxlike canyon at more than 6,000 feet elevation in sloped terrain, according to the report.
One tree, 3 feet in diameter, was felled near the crash. Airplane pieces were found around it. The tops of several other trees were severed.
The report noted that CDF regulations prohibit pilots from operating less than 500 feet above ground during flight missions unless authorized.
CDF officials said the crash was the first for the OV-10A in CDF service.
A final report on the crash is months away from being released, Pollack said.