Crash news article

[popeyefireman 0]

Look what i just found in my newspaper. I learned at this dropzone, and have bben in that 182....after it was crashed and rebuilt. The crash was something like 2 years ago.





By Carol Ann Alaimo

The pilot of an Army Golden Knights sky-diving plane - found by the service to have drugs in his system - caused the crash that took his life two years ago in Marana, a Federal Aviation Administration report says.

But an Army report blames the crash on the pilot of a civilian sky-diving plane. The two aircraft collided over Marana Northwest Regional Airport on March 15, 2002, and the Golden Knights plane slammed into the ground.

The FAA found that the single-engine Army UV-20A struck the single-engine Cessna 182 from above and behind. The owner of the civilian plane calls the Army's report a cover-up.

"When this happened, the Army just closed ranks and tried to blame it on somebody else," said Tony Frost, owner of Marana Skydiving Center at the airport, 11700 W. Avra Valley Road. "There's no way that our plane could have backed up in midair to hit their plane."

Frost obtained the FAA report under the federal Freedom of Information Act. The Star obtained the Army's crash reports the same way.

One Army report was from the Army Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Ala. The other, which blamed the civilian pilot, was done by the outfit that the Golden Knights reported to - the U.S. Army Recruiting Command.

Army officials, first contacted Wednesday by the Star, had no comment. Martha Rudd, a spokeswoman for Army headquarters at the Pentagon, said Thursday that a response could take several days.

The Army pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Lowell Timmons, 45, of Richmond Hill, Ga., had just finished learning to fly the Golden Knights plane three weeks before the crash, his flight training records show. A 16-year Army veteran, he had more than 5,000 hours of flying time in fixed-wing aircraft but only 31 in the Army sky-diving plane.

Moments before the accident, Timmons "incorrectly reported his position," the FAA report said.

Four civilian sky divers were aboard the Cessna when it was struck by the Army plane. They jumped to safety and the Cessna landed with wing damage and a hole in its cabin.

Timmons plunged to his death screaming a string of obscenities, which were picked up by his cockpit microphone and broadcast over the sky-diving center's loudspeaker system, the Army reports said.

The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., which tested Timmons' organs after his death, found drugs in his system. But the names of the drugs were blacked out in the report provided to the Star.

The drug test looked for 15 substances ranging from marijuana and cocaine to a common cough-syrup ingredient that can cause drowsiness.

Army rules forbid pilots to take drugs without a doctor's OK, except for the occasional use of remedies such as aspirin or antacid. The rules are so strict that pilots are grounded for three days if they use a nicotine patch to quit smoking.

Army investigators who checked Timmons' medical records found no sign he was under a doctor's care.

"There was no indication that he was taking any medication or had any medical problems," one Army record said.

Timmons' widow, Teresa Timmons, had no comment on the investigations when contacted at her home in Georgia last week.

"He was a great guy, a great man, a great soldier and a great husband who lost his life doing his job for his country," she said.

Frost, of Marana Skydiving, said he learned late last week that his insurance firm paid Timmons' widow a $500,000 settlement on the basis of the Army report blaming the Cessna pilot. But Frost said the Army paid him $33,000 for damage to the Cessna a few months after the accident. He produced a letter from the service that spells out that settlement.

Until the fatal crash, the Golden Knights flew winter training missions at Marana Skydiving Center for a few weeks each year.

The Knights, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., are part of the service's effort to attract new recruits by dazzling spectators with aerial feats. Members spend about 200 days a year jumping into sports stadiums, appearing at air shows and competing for parachuting medals.

The Recruiting Command's investigation concluded that the Marana crash occurred because the Cessna pilot was crowding the Army plane.

"The biggest contributing factor to the accident was the Cessna's failure to provide a safe operating distance to the Army aircraft," the report said.

The report continued, "The Cessna aircraft had an obligation to avoid the Army aircraft."

The FAA report said just the opposite.

The Cessna pilot "was exercising proper communication and collision avoidance procedures when he was struck from above/behind," the FAA report says.

The Army pilot "failed to use proper communication and collision avoidance procedures and, as the overtaking aircraft, also failed to yield the right of way to the slower Cessna aircraft," the FAA said.

The FAA prepared its report for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is reviewing the crash because a civilian aircraft was involved. The NTSB has not yet issued a final report.

The Army Safety Center report did not assign blame for the crash in the version released to the Star. It did make six recommendations for changes that the Army should make to prevent future incidents. The reasons for those recommendations cover 6 1/2 pages.

Both the recommendations and the reasons were deleted from the material released to the Star.

The Safety Center said in a letter accompanying the documents that it normally keeps its conclusions secret to encourage candid responses from witnesses.

The Star is appealing the Army's decision to withhold the drug test results and other information. The appeal process could take up to two years, Army officials said.

Frost, 54, who said he's run the sky-diving center for 26 years without another plane crash, believes someone in the Army should have to answer for the discrepancies in the crash reports.

He said it pains him to speak out against the Army because it was a good customer over the years and because he feels badly for Timmons' widow.

"I wasn't going to make a big stink," he said. "But I'm not going to keep quiet about this if they're accusing us of something when they were to blame."

Frost said the civilian pilot involved in the crash, 29-year-old David Genet, was so upset that he quit flying a few days later. Genet could not be reached for comment.

"Everyone around here was traumatized by this," Frost said. "It's just a terrible situation all the way around."

* Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo 573-4138 or [email protected].



http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/dailystar/5456.php

"I Yam what I Yam"

I am not afriad to die, only to die without living.

[ltdiver 3]

http://www.wcnc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D800TN0G0.html

FAA report on Arizona plane crash conflicts with an Army account



01/11/2004

Associated Press



The pilot of an Army skydiving plane caused a midair crash that took his life two years ago, according to a Federal Aviation Administration report, contradicting an Army report on the accident.

The FAA found that the single-engine Army UV-20A struck the single-engine Cessna 182 from above and behind on March 15, 2002, the Arizona Daily Star reported Sunday.

The military pilot, who was flying a plane for the Golden Knights parachute team based in Fort Bragg, N.C., slammed into the ground near Marana Northwest Regional Airport outside Tucson. The pilot of the civilian plane managed to land his damaged plane safely.

Four civilian sky divers were aboard the Cessna when it was struck by the Army plane, but jumped to safety. Four Golden Knights parachutists had already jumped from the military plane before the collision.

Even though an Army report blames the crash on the civilian plane's pilot, the owner of the aircraft calls the military report a cover-up.

"There's no way that our plane could have backed up in midair to hit their plane," said Tony Frost, owner of Marana Skydiving Center at the airport.

Frost obtained the FAA report under the federal Freedom of Information Act. The newspaper got crash reports by the Army the same way.

One Army report was from the Army Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Ala. The other, which blamed the civilian pilot, was done by the outfit that the Golden Knights reported to — the U.S. Army Recruiting Command.

Army officials had no comment. Martha Rudd, a spokeswoman for Army headquarters at the Pentagon, said Thursday a response could take several days.

The Army pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Lowell Timmons, 45, of Richmond Hill, Ga., had just finished learning to fly the Golden Knights plane three weeks before the crash, records show.

A 16-year Army veteran, he had more than 5,000 hours of flying time in fixed-wing aircraft but only 31 in the Army skydiving plane.

Moments before the accident, Timmons incorrectly reported his position, the FAA report said.

The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., which tested Timmons' organs after his death, found drugs in his system. But the names of the drugs were blacked out in the report provided to the newspaper.

The drug test looked for 15 substances ranging from marijuana and cocaine to a common cough-syrup ingredient that can cause drowsiness.

Army rules forbid pilots to take drugs without a doctor's approval, except for the occasional use of remedies such as aspirin or antacid. Army investigators who checked Timmons' medical records found no sign he was under a doctor's care.

Timmons' widow, Teresa Timmons, had no comment on the investigations when contacted at her home in Georgia last week.

"He was a great guy, a great man, a great soldier and a great husband who lost his life doing his job for his country," she said.

The Army Safety Center report didn't assign blame for the crash in the version released to the newspaper. The Recruiting Command's investigation concluded that the Marana crash occurred because the Cessna pilot was crowding the Army plane.

The FAA report said just the opposite. The Cessna pilot "was exercising proper communication and collision avoidance procedures when he was struck from above/behind," the FAA report says.

The FAA prepared its report for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is reviewing the crash because a civilian aircraft was involved. The NTSB hasn't issued a final report.

The newspaper is appealing the Army's decision to withhold the drug test results and other information. The appeal process could take up to two years, Army officials said.

The civilian pilot involved in the crash, 29-year-old David Genet, couldn't be reached for comment.

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon