Crash photos 005.JPG
A flight instructor and student pilot walked away after an October 2011 midair collision and crash landing.
(National Transportation Safety Board)
A midair collision of two planes in October 2011, followed by a fatal crash west of Wilsonville, likely occurred because neither pilot could see the other aircraft.
That's the conclusion of
issued late last week by the
, following a 20-month investigation.
The final reports, and the
do not assign blame for the collision, saying that one pilot's view likely was blocked by his plane's wing and engine while the other pilot's view was obstructed by his plane's door post and cabin roof.
Joshua Cawthra, the investigator who led the inquiry, said Monday that probable cause was determined by analyzing the courses, positions, speeds, angles and attitudes of the planes, as well as by examining the aircraft, debris, radar readings, radio transmissions and interviewing the survivors, air-traffic controllers and witnesses on the ground.
"Unfortunately, we don't have records on small planes to put together the exact way they collided," Cawthra said. "But we do know that both pilots had a lot of structure in their view."
The area where the collision occurred is not under formal air traffic control, but pilots are required to fly by visual flight rules.
After the Oct. 25 collision, flight instructor Travis Thompson, 31, of Beaverton and student Henrik Murer Kalberg, 23, of Holmestrand, Norway, managed to land their damaged twin-engine Piper PA-44 –180 Seminole in a field adjacent Champoeg State Heritage Area, west of Wilsonville. Both men walked away uninjured.
Stephen L. Watson, 58, of Beaverton died when his Beech V-35 broke up and crashed to the ground.
The other plane, a single-engine Beech Bonanza V35, broke apart midair, sending pilot Stephen L. Watson of Beaverton to his death. Watson, 58, a retired Oregon State Police sergeant with airline-transport flight rating, had taken off that afternoon from
in Hillsboro.
Thompson and Kalberg had taken off from
for training maneuvers, intending to land at
. They climbed to an altitude of about 5,500 feet, then practiced slow flight, steep turns and stalls before climbing to about 7,500 feet, heading northwest. The Piper then began a simulated emergency descent, banking left.
Meanwhile, Watson's Beech Bonanza was heading northeast at about 2,800 feet.
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"It could not be determined if either pilot could see the other just before the collision," the probable-cause reports say. "However, based on the airplanes' relative positions and flight attitudes, it seems unlikely."
The reports also conclude that a small plane spotted in the area by the Piper's crew likely was not Watson's Beech, as previously suspected.
Weather apparently did not play a factor.
Neither did the much-debated handling characteristics of the Beech V35. Detractors say the V-shaped tail makes the plane difficult to control. Fans applaud the high-performance plane, while acknowledging that it should be flown only by highly rated pilots -- such as Watson.
The reports did not in any way implicate
, which provided flight instruction in the company-owned Piper. Max Lyons, Hillsboro Aviation president, did not return a message requesting comment.
-- Rick Bella