Report: Video recording shows aircraft crashing after losing a wing
The right wing of the Bearhawk that crashed in the West Valley on April 30. A preliminary report released by the NTSB indicated the wing separated from the plane prior to impact. (Carol Marino/Daily Inter Lake)
A surveillance camera captured the kit-built plane — missing a wing — hurtling toward the ground immediately prior to the April 30 crash in the West Valley that killed two Flathead County residents.
A preliminary report into the crash released by the National Transportation Safety Board last week referenced the camera footage, taken from a nearby building, summarized witness accounts and offered an examination of the wreckage. While multiple people saw the body of the aircraft and its right wing hit the ground separately, no one saw the Bearhawk plane come apart, the document said.
The report offers the most comprehensive view yet of the crash that killed Joe Angle, 63, of Kalispell and Kimberly Hebert, 61, of Hungry Horse. Local authorities released the victims’ identities on May 19.
The plane was one of three aircraft headed that morning from Kalispell City Airport to Eureka Airport for a breakfast trip, departing about 8:04 a.m., according to the report. The pilots of the other planes reported clear skies and good weather.
They were tracking the Bearhawk on their automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) devices when it vanished, but did not see the crash, the report said.
According to ADS-B data, the Bearhawk climbed to about 4,900 feet above mean sea level after takeoff, flying at a speed of roughly 88 knots. It leveled off and accelerated to 115 knots before data from the plane “abruptly ended,” the report said.
People on the ground heard a loud bang, according to the document, and several saw a wing fall out of the sky. The rest of the aircraft came to a rest about 850 feet away from where the wing landed.
The video taken, which captured the final second before the crash, showed the Bearhawk descending nose down and spinning to the right. The aircraft suffered “extensive crush damage and fragmentation through to the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer,” the report said. Investigators found the left wing still attached to the main body by its lift strut and forward spar end cap.
According to the FAA, Angle owned the plane, a popular model among enthusiasts. Bearhawks are typically built from a set of plans, with buyers able to purchase components from the company or find their own parts. The NTSB report listed Angle as the builder.
FAA records indicate that the Bearhawk was deregistered at the time of the crash, the registration having been canceled in June 2021. A review of Angle’s certifications shows that he last earned medical approval to fly in 1997. Third class medical certificates must be renewed every two years for pilots over the age of 40.
News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.