The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the crash of a Beech E90 twin-engine plane at McClellan/Palomar Airport that killed George Swink, 57, of Escondido and another man early in the morning on July 3, 2007. The report, posted on the NTSB.gov website explains what happened but offers few clues as to why the plane hit the wires.
After departing runway 24, the airplane collided with the top wire of a power line about 55 feet above ground level (agl). The airplane traveled another 50 feet before colliding with the bottom two lines of an electrical tower. SDGE reported that the lines were 230,0000 volt lines that were 1-1/4-inch in diameter. These power lines were about 50 feet agl. A piece of the right wing, with a section of the right aileron and the bellcrank attached, remained impaled on the tower about 45 feet up. The tower sustained damage to several support beams and cross members. The airport elevation was 331 feet; the estimated elevation of the first line was 285 feet. . . . The two power lines wrapped around the propeller blades of both engines, and the wires were continuous to the wreckage. The airplane came to rest about 300 yards from the transmission tower after leaving debris and ground scars on the fairway and green of a golf course under development. The debris path was along a magnetic bearing of 270 degrees.
According to a story in the North County Times:
“Howard Plagens, a senior air-safety investigator with the federal agency, said the goal of the two-page report is to collect and publish facts; it does not draw conclusions. Plagens said information contained in the report may change as the investigation continues.”
[Links: North County Times and The NTSB]
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