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Pilot reported 'problem' before crash that killed 3

Posted January 02, 2008 10:00 pm

Bruce Rushton

Thirty-six seconds before his single-engine plane augured into the earth, Ray L. Wright told the control tower at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport that he was having a "problem."

But those weren't Wright's final words, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the Dec. 20 crash that killed Wright and his two passengers.

Twenty-three seconds after radioing that he had a problem, Wright, 71, told the controller "I can go out now (my plane) is flying eastbound."

Thirteen seconds later, he crashed, less than two minutes after a ground controller transferred him to a tower controller for a landing that never happened.

Witnesses have said the plane was flying erratically and performed a "loop." Radar records confirm that Wright's final moments in the air were a roller coaster.

Flying on instruments due to fog, Wright, a longtime private pilot who lived in Rochester, had been cleared to approach the airport and was supposed to be getting in position for a landing, using a signal from a navigational radio on the ground.

Instead of aligning himself with the runway, however, radar records show that Wright's plane veered across the localizer centerline, then turned sharply toward the right, back toward the runway. At the same time, the plane descended from about 3,000 feet to 1,300 feet, the NTSB said in the preliminary report issued Thursday.

Then the plane went into a steep climb, to 2,700 feet, before plummeting to earth in a muddy field nearly nine miles southwest of the airport.

An NTSB investigator has ruled out the possibility that Wright was attempting an emergency landing, but just about everything else - including pilot error, icing and equipment failure - is on the table, said Andrew Todd Fox, air safety investigator for the NTSB.

"All those items are being looked at," said Fox, who expects to issue a final report within a year.

Killed along with Wright were the Revs. John Crabtree, 57, and Rick Hohimer, 55, both of Springfield.

Wright was president of the board of Contact Ministries and was a member of Calvary Temple Christian Center, where Hohimer had been a pastor. Crabtree, head of New Creation Ministry, had been involved with Calvary over the past 20 years. The men were returning from a trip to Cincinnati.

Wright was flying a Beech V35B, also called a Bonanza. It departed from Clermont County Airport in Batavia, Ohio, about 2:30 p.m. EST Dec. 20 and crashed in a field west of Springfield just about 3:17 p.m.

The plane went down about 200 to 300 yards off Old Route 54 west of Springfield.

The impact was so severe the nose of the plane was buried in the field, which was extremely muddy because of recent rain. Authorities had to use a military vehicle to remove the wreckage.

With room for five, Bonanzas are one of the most successful general-aviation aircraft in U.S. history. Introduced in 1947, they are still manufactured, although the V35B model, which features a distinctive V-shaped tail and made its debut in the 1970s, hasn't been made since 1982.

Bruce Rushton can be reached at (217) 788-1542 or bruce.rushton@sj-r.com.

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