Pilot error caused crash that killed five

Pilot error led to a plane crash near Marion last May that killed all five people on board, according to a final report published last week by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The single-engine Cessna took off from the northern end of Skydive Lost Prairie's hardtop runway at about 10:15 a.m. on May 12, carrying the pilot and four skydivers.

Almost immediately, the pilot attempted to circle back for a precautionary landing.

"… the aircraft rocked slightly, then appeared to take a sharp left turn causing the nose to dive downward, left wing slightly dipped, and plummet to the ground," one witness told investigators.

The plane crashed 345 feet south of the runway's approach end, only five minutes after takeoff.

In examining the wreckage, investigators found damage to the oil filler tube and not to the oil filler cap, suggesting the cap wasn't secured to the tube when the plane took off.

"It is reasonable to expect that an amount of oil would have escaped the engine and blown back over the pilot's windscreen, thereby obstructing his vision," the report states.

"The obstructed windscreen, coupled with the airplane's gross takeoff weight being exceeded, would most probably explain the pilot's loss of control while attempting to return to the runway," the report continued.

However, an examination of portions of the oil system found no oil residue on pieces of the windshield or other engine parts.

Prior to departing on the first flight of the day, a witness recalled that pilot Troy Norling, 28, of Onalaska, Wis., added 25 gallons of fuel, sumped the tanks, checked the oil, and then took off.

"I witnessed the pilot pull out and check the dipstick, but did not witness him removing the oil filler cap nor add any oil to the airplane," an observer told investigators.

An autopsy conducted at the Montana state crime lab determined Norling died of blunt-force injuries and toxicology tests were negative for carbon monoxide, cyanide and ethanol.

Norling, who had moved to Flathead County in response to an Internet advertisement to become Lost Prairie's only full-time pilot among a group of part-time pilots hired for the skydiving school's busy season, had more than 500 hours of flight time.

The investigation also revealed that plane was about 165 pounds over maximum weight, and the center of gravity was toward the rear of the plane at the time of the accident.

But while it may have contributed to the crash, the center of gravity was still within the operating envelope and the plane was only slightly overweight, National Transportation Safety Board officials said.

Skydiving instructors Joel Atkinson, 25, of Whitefish and David Landeck Jr., 25, of Missoula had been scheduled to make a tandem jump with novice skydivers and sweethearts Kyle Mills, 31, and Jenny Sengpiel, 25, when the plane went down. Mills and Sengpiel were musicians in the Great Falls Symphony Orchestra.

Atkinson, who delivered pizzas when he wasn't jumping out of planes, was an accomplished parachutist and skydiving was his passion, according to his family.

After the plane crashed, the cabin and cockpit were consumed by a fire. Both wings had been shorn off, but the tail cone was largely intact. Investigators could not determine the position of the flaps after the impact, but found evidence indicating the trim on the horizontal stabilizer was set to the takeoff position.

The wreckage revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of either the airframe or the engine, according to the report.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, Cessna Aircraft Co. and Teledyne Continental Motors Inc. investigated the accident. The crashed plane was a Cessna 182-C, which had a Teledyne engine.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com