Report: Pilot error, bad weather blamed for crash
Hungry Horse News
A National Transportation Safety report of a plane crash that killed three Forest Service employees last September cites pilot error, little experience flying in the backcountry and poor weather for the crash.
The crash happened on the flank of Mount Liebig Sept. 20, 2004 in the Great Bear Wilderness. The plane was headed to the Schafer Meadow airstrip further to the east. Contract Pilot Jim Long apparently made a wrong turn in bad weather and the plane struck the mountainside as Long realized his error and tried to turn the plane around.
But it was too late.
Long, 60, of Columbia Falls, was killed in the crash, as were locals Ken Good, 58 and Davita Bryant, 32, both Forest Service employees. Surviving the wreckage were Matthew Ramige, 29 of Jackson Hole, Wyo. and Jodee Hogg, 23, of Billings.
When rescuers first made it to the scene of the fiery crash, Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont thought everyone was dead. But Hogg and Ramige had left the site and were making their way down the mountain to the road, severely injured and suffering from burns from the crash. Good actually survived the initial impact, but later died from burns and other injuries to his upper torso. Hogg and Ramige were found about 29 hours later after they made their way down to the road.
The NTSB probable cause report on the crash, said Long "misidentified the airplane's location, which resulted in his improper decision to fly into the wrong drainage."
He also "failed to maintain terrain clearance while executing a turn to reverse course after he realized his navigational error. Contributing factors were the low visibility due to mist, obscuration of the mountainous terrain, and the pilot's lack of experience in back country flying."
Long, while he had thousands of hours of flying time as a commercial pilot, had comparatively limited experience flying in the backcountry. According to the NTSB report, Long had about 100 hours flying in the mountains. The Forest Service standards are for 200 hours.
Further, NTSB investigators also looked into Long's flight log book and discovered only 15 entries that amounted to 14 hours of flight time that included a takeoff or landing at a backcountry airport.
The plane crash made national news and also prompted a Forest Service investigation into the crash. The Forest Service plans on tightening requirements standards for backcountry flights.