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CRM Breakdown in Indianna

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  • CRM Breakdown in Indianna

    Disclaimer, We need to wait for the final report, but the profile is there:

    -High performance, light piston twin aircraft.
    -Rated, "experienced" nonprofessional pilot.
    -Fairly wealthy folks on a fun, expensive trip.
    -Significant weather.
    -Night.

    The journey that led to the deaths of seven friends in a plane crash in downstate Bloomington began with a phone call and a coveted chance to see Monday's NCAA final game.


    Scott Bittner, 42, was at the company he runs with his father when he got a call from Terry Stralow, 64, the owner of a popular pub near the campus of Illinois State University. Stralow had an extra ticket and wanted to know if Bittner wanted to come along.


    "I'm going," Bittner later told one of his co-workers, Terry Wertz. "I might not ever go again."


    Bittner offered the use of his plane, a twin-engine Cessna, and they all headed to Indianapolis: He and Stralow, two members of the ISU athletics department, two other area businessmen and a pilot with years of experience with commercial flying.


    They were due back just after midnight Tuesday, but their plane dropped off radar shortly before they were to land in dense fog, officials said. A nearly three-hour search finally discovered the wreckage in a bean field just 2 1/2 miles northeast of the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington.


    All seven men were still belted in their seats in the wreckage, officials said.
    Besides Bittner and Stralow, the victims were identified as Aaron Leetch, 37, ISU deputy director of athletics for external operations, and Torrey Ward, 36, associate head coach of the Redbirds men’s basketball team; Thomas Hileman, 51, the pilot; Andy Butler, 40, a regional representative for Sprint; and Woodrow "Jason" Jones, 45, a senior vice president/investment officer with Secord-Jones Wealth Management Group.


    Bittner ran Bittner’s Meat Co., which was started by his father. Stralow was a partner in the Pub II, a bar and restaurant that's operated for more than 40 years.
    Bittner was from Towanda, a small town north of Bloomington-Normal. The others were all from Bloomington or Normal. Hileman, Leetch, Jones and Stralow were identified through dental records, according to the McLean County coroner's office.


    Investigators would not speculate on a cause and said they would look at all aspects of the flight: The condition of the aircraft, the pilot's communications with controllers and the weather.


    Todd Fox, an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the pilot had been cleared for an instrument landing on Runway 20 at the airport. "During the approach, the accident happened," he said.
    The pilot had a valid flying certificate with a February medical check. He had about 12,000 hours of flight time.


    All the wreckage was found "within one wingspan" of the main fuselage, he said, which should help investigators inspect the aircraft.


    The plane had been in contact with air traffic control in Peoria, which handles communication with airplanes after the Central Illinois Regional Airport radio tower closes at 10 p.m., according to Carl Olson, director of the airport.


    At some point "that radio contact was lost," he said. Olson did not say if the pilot indicated experiencing any trouble. The pilot did not cancel the flight plan or make any alterations in flight, he said.


    The airport control tower normally closes at night, but it is common for planes to land after hours, with runway lights illuminated. Pilots also have the ability to remotely indicate they need the runway lights turned on.
    The plane went down in a field north of two-lane Illinois Route 9 off a paved county road.


    Fog still blanketed the area Tuesday afternoon, obscuring farmhouses, silos and the tops of the runway approach lights on a gray day with a gusty wind. A sheriff's patrol car blocked off the road to the crash site about a half-mile north of the highway, where investigators began to examine the wreckage.


    Scott Barrows, Bittner's father-in-law, said the pilot "was very experienced" and he can't understand what went wrong.
    "They were flying back, and I guess the weather was bad in central Illinois. It was foggy," said Barrows, a former faculty member at the University of Illinois at Chicago.


    "They were supposed to land around midnight. My daughter was called at 4 a.m. There was no contact," he said.


    Wertz said he has worked at Bittner's Meat Co. for 16 years and had grown close to Bittner.


    "He was a great guy, do anything for you," Wertz said. "Great to work for. He always told me, 'You don't work for me, you work with me.' He's always been good to me, a heart of gold. All he's done for me."


    As he left work Monday, Bittner told Wertz, "See you tomorrow."


    "I told him, 'Have fun,' " Wertz said.


    Bittner had two children, a boy and a girl ages 10 and 12. He grew up in Chenoa and met his wife, Carrie, at Illinois State in Bloomington-Normal. They married after she graduated.


    "She's in shock, obviously," said Barrows, who was a clinical assistant professor at UIC Medical Center and currently lives in Virginia. "It's going to be tough, but we'll be there for them. I'll be there for our grandchildren."
    John Rokos, co-owner of the Pub II, said he got a call around 9 a.m. telling him his partner was killed in the crash.


    "He was like my little brother," Rokos said. "I'm in shock. ... This is a tragedy. It's just a terrible loss. It's shocking."
    He said Stralow went "to a lot of basketball, football games when he can. Especially around the championships."


    Rokos said he had last talked with Stralow last week, mostly about business and their families.


    "He was my working partner," Rokos said, whom he had known since college. "He was a tremendous man, very generous to his friends. ... He was a great businessman. Tremendous."


    Outside Pub II on Tuesday afternoon, employees and friends of Stralow left bouquets of flowers on the window sills and sidewalk at the front of the popular bar near downtown Normal. One woman wept and hugged friends as she added flowers to the memorial.


    At ISU not far away, athletic director Larry Lyons said the "Redbird family and the Bloomington-Normal community has suffered a terrible loss today.
    "Aaron Leetch was a shining star in this business. He had a gift in dealing with people and building relationships. Our external units were making incredible progress under his leadership, and he was on that trip doing what he does best.


    "Torrey Ward was a big part of the success taking place with our men’s basketball program. He had a big personality, was a talented coach and recruiter, and our fans loved him.


    "There is no play in the playbook for times like these," he said. "We will miss Aaron and Torrey deeply, and we will support their families in any way that we can. To honor their individual and collective legacies, we will move the Redbirds and our community forward.”



    Leetch leaves behind his wife, Lindsay, and daughters Avery and Emmersen. Ward is survived by his children, Torrey and Tamia, according to ISU.

    Copyright © 2015, Chicago Tribune
    Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

  • #2
    ...their plane dropped off radar shortly before they were to land in dense fog...
    I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that plane did not have cat III autoland capability?

    I don't know where you get "nonprofessional pilot" though - the article states he has "years of experience with commercial flying". Another article I found on the web states he had an ATP certificate. Although based on the evidence presented, I'd say his actions during the flight were pretty unprofessional.
    Be alert! America needs more lerts.

    Eric Law

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by elaw View Post
      I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that plane did not have cat III autoland capability?

      I don't know where you get "nonprofessional pilot" though - the article states he has "years of experience with commercial flying". Another article I found on the web states he had an ATP certificate. Although based on the evidence presented, I'd say his actions during the flight were pretty unprofessional.
      Acknowledged.

      Here's where the discussion gets interesting (though not new)...

      Low time, but current instrument pilots are licensed and technically capable of shooting approaches to minimums.

      However, statistically, ATP pilots are much safer.

      And true commercial pilots who's full time job is flying and with two-person crews and with FREQUENT simulator practice and FREQUENT real world practice show up as statistically safer than a super trained and experienced guy who has a big twin Cessna but does not fly it as his one, single, full time job (but instead owns a meat company)...

      Now, all that being said- maybe he was an excellent pilot.

      But flying on a clear day versus flying on a foggy night in a single-pilot complex twin...that's another TWO steps up in risk (1. Single pilot complex twin. 2. Night Hard IMC)

      ...and as long as we are debating relative risks, it's a lot safer to not fly at all and sit on your butt and watch the NCAA final on TV...even WITH a good pilot and good plane!

      ...and fatigue could have been a factor, and mechanical issues- it seems like it might have hit the middle of an open field slightly nose low...maybe not completely consistent with dipping and sniffing where I'd think you'd bounce and tumble if you 'hit' the ground?????
      Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

      Comment


      • #4
        Maybe I'm confused? The way I read it, Mr. Bittner the meat company owner owned the airplane, but Mr. Hileman was the pilot.

        Quite possibly related: http://hilemanaviation.com/

        If that website is his, it would imply that while Mr. Hileman was not employed by an airline, he probably flew pretty frequently. Training and sim time... hard to say.
        Be alert! America needs more lerts.

        Eric Law

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by elaw View Post
          Maybe I'm confused?
          More likely, my reading comprehension sometimes sucks (no maybe about it).

          But ok, there's still SOME differences between a mainline airline pilot and someone who charters piston twins...He might have been instructing in a C150 or operating one of his own aircraft the day before flying the meat guy's plane. It's not like he does nothing but fly an A330 where there's only one specific procedure to remember for the ASI going Y2K.

          You know how important it is to keep all the type-specific stuff straight!
          Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

          Comment


          • #6
            That's true.

            However I'm pretty sure for any type of airplane that doesn't have autoland capability, the procedure for landing when the runway or its surroundings are obscured by fog is as follows:
            • Don't
            Be alert! America needs more lerts.

            Eric Law

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by elaw View Post
              That's true.

              However I'm pretty sure for any type of airplane that doesn't have autoland capability, the procedure for landing when the runway or its surroundings are obscured by fog is as follows:
              • Don't
              Indeed and

              Then again, it was the wee hours of the morning (they probably flew down to Indy mid-day)...maybe he wasn't running at 100% mentally...just zoned out a bit. The airport was uncontrolled and (this is tough), I'm not so sure it was below minimums...

              ...it could even be that classic black hole effect with the runway in sight.
              Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

              Comment


              • #8
                The same medical condition that killed F1 driver Graham Hill in woods near to Elstree Aerodrome when he was returning from testing at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

                "GetHomeItis"

                Up and coming driver Tony Brise and four members of Hills' team also died in the Piper Aztec.
                If it 'ain't broken........ Don't try to mend it !

                Comment

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