NTSB: Plane with Stevens had danger alert system

8/13/2010 09:10:12 PM

JUNEAU, Alaska – The float plane carrying former Sen. Ted Stevens that crashed in Alaska this week was equipped with a technology meant to alert the pilot that dangerous terrain was ahead, the National Transportation Safety Board's chairwoman said Friday.

But it's not clear if the system was working just before the plane hit a steep, rugged mountainside, killing Stevens — the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history — and four others, chairwoman Deborah Hersman said at a news conference in Anchorage.

The five victims died from blunt-force trauma, state medical examiner Dr. Katherine Raven said. Four people survived, and investigators interviewed two of them on Friday.

Hersman said one of the survivors described Monday afternoon's crash by saying: "They were flying along, and they just stopped flying."

The same survivor said he didn't notice any changes in the plane's pitch or hear any unusual engine sounds right before the plane went down about 20 miles north of Dillingham in southwest Alaska.

Hersman didn't identify the survivors who spoke with officials on Friday. She did not say why she wasn't naming the two who were interviewed.

Former NASA chief Sean O'Keefe, his son, Kevin O'Keefe, lobbyist Jim Morhard and lobbyist William "Willy" Phillips Jr. lived through the crash.

An Anchorage hospital on Friday upgraded Sean O'Keefe from critical to serious condition. Kevin O'Keefe remained in fair condition, Morhard also was in fair condition and Phillips was in good condition.

Also killed were pilot Theron Smith, General Communications Inc. executive, Dana Tindall, Tindall's 16-year-old daughter, Corey, and William "Bill" Phillips Sr., who had worked with Stevens in Washington.

Hersman said one survivor recalled that the group decided during lunch at the GCI-owned lodge to head to the fishing camp, a trip that had been put off in the morning due to poor weather.

The survivor said conditions had improved by the afternoon. He said he fell asleep about 10-15 minutes into the flight and woke up after the crash, Hersman said.

Authorities have said that, had the most direct route been taken, the crash would have occurred about 15-20 minutes after takeoff, but it wasn't yet clear if that's the path that was taken.

GCI spokesman David said about 13 people originally came to the lodge last Saturday for what was "primarily a Stevens trip."

For years, the 86-year-old Stevens used GCI's lodge to show politicians and regulators what life in rural Alaska was like.

Smith was a temporary replacement for the regular pilot, who unexpectedly quit, Morris said. Smith was a longtime pilot for Alaska Airlines — retiring in 2007 after 28 years — and was qualified to fly the float plane and to fly in that part of the country, Morris said.

Hersman said Smith was estimated to have had 10 hours of air time in the float plane that crashed and another 35 hours in the same type of plane. He had thousands of hours in both single and dual engine amphibious aircraft.

Hersman said Smith didn't request a weather briefing before departure. However, investigators have been told there was Internet service at the camp and he may have checked conditions that way.

Camp guide Byron Orth said the lodge called to say the group was heading to the camp. But when no one showed up, Orth figured the trip had been canceled. Hours later, the lodge called the camp and asked if Stevens' group was on its way back.

Orth said people at the camp and lodge feared the worst had happened.

"You're hoping for the best, but there's a bad feeling in your stomach," he said.

Investigators have been examining the pilot's log book, weather information and the mechanics of the plane. Other officials were working to bring the wreckage off the hillside for closer inspection at a hangar.

Nothing has been ruled anything out as a possible cause, Hersman said.

The plane was also equipped with an emergency locator transmitter, she said. When properly registered, it issues a distress signal to a control center via satellites and provides registration information, such as the owner's name.

But because the injuries sustained were "severe and fatal," a quicker response from rescuers probably wouldn't have made a difference, said Raven, the medical examiner.