The airplane that crashed Friday with U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone and seven others aboard is considered one of the safest small aircraft in the air, aviation experts said.
But the twin-engine turboprop King Air A-100 was flying into snow, freezing rain and low clouds, conditions just right for icing, said Dana Siewert.
Early speculation has centered on icing as a possible factor in the crash.
Ice forming on the wings, propeller and engine intakes robs an aircraft of lift and speed. It can damage engines or cause stalls, leading to crashes.
Siewert is director of aviation safety at the John D. Odegaard School of Aerospace Science at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.
ADVERTISEMENT
The weather at 10 a.m., about the time of the crash, included light snow, freezing rain and visibility of less than five miles on the ground. The cloud ceiling was 400 feet, considered low.
Icing is one of many possible factors the National Transportation and Safety Board will consider in the crash two miles from the Eveleth-Virginia (Minn.) Municipal Airport, Siewert said.
Other possibilities include pilot error (the plane had two pilots), mechanical or fuel problems, disorientation or vertigo. Ducking under cloud cover can also lead to a controlled flight into trees or the ground, he said.
The Beechcraft King Air A-100 was produced from 1969-1979, Raytheon Aircraft Corp. spokesman Tim Travis said.
The aircraft Wellstone, his wife, Sheila, daughter Marcia, three staff members and two pilots were flying in was built in 1979, Travis said. The A-100 typically carries eight passengers and two crew.
The A-100 has propeller de-icers and pneumatic boots on the wings and tail to break up ice, Travis said.
Siewert said UND has used King Airs in the past.
"Very reliable airplane. ... If you've got a good pilot at the controls, it's got a very stellar safety record," he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The statistics back him up.
The King Air A-100 averages 1.84 accidents and 0.60 fatalities per 100,000 hours of use, said Bob Breiling, president of aviation safety tracking firm Robert E. Breiling Associates.
The business turboprop fleet averages 2.27 accidents and 0.80 fatalities per 100,000 hours, Breiling said.
Breiling said 70 percent of accidents are pilot error.
He said the A-100, leased from Beech Transportation Inc., of Eden Prairie, Minn., has a flight recorder.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Helmut Schmidt at (701) 241-5583
