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NTSB: WI plane low on fuel when crashed in Iowa
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DES MOINES, Iowa — Federal aviation officials say a small plane that crashed in a corn field in northwest Iowa, killing all three Wisconsin men on board, was low on fuel.
In a report last week, the National Transportation Safety Board says the single-engine Piper had two 25-gallon fuel tanks. After the crash, investigators drained 1 cup of fuel from the tank under the left wing and 2½ cups from the tank under the right wing.
The plane crashed on June 23 near Sheldon in O’Brien County.
The three men on board — Francis Allegretti, of Cambridge, Wis., Thomas Boos, of Fort Atkinson, Wis., and Malcolm McMillan, of Milton, Wis. — were flying from Fort Atkinson to South Dakota on a hunting trip.
Nov 2, 2009 at 10:54 p.m.
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The families already know the facts. The plane did not malfunction. The NTSB investigations are open so that other pilots can learn the limitations of their craft and equipment, as well as their own as humans. Pilot error is common (JFK Jr., Cory Lidle, even two Gemini astronauts), not that this lessens the tragedy when it does occur. It serves no one to treat it as a mystery.
Nov 2, 2009 at 8:11 p.m.
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Be cautious about the "facts" you quote. I know how much these families must be hurting, and how incredibly unfortunate this all was. It does appear that some errors in judgement could have occured, but three good people died... and three families will never be the same.
I hope they find peace in the answers for what occured, and not more heartache.
Nov 2, 2009 at 3:09 p.m.
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Report here:
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=C...
.
Looks like they had too much people/gear and decided not to fill the tanks all the way because of the weight, but ran out before they could reach an airport to refuel. At the end they were flying low, possibly looking for a place to make an emergency landing. The pilot may have guesstimated he could make Sioux Falls, but bypassed places like Mason City where he could have readily refueled, and was even close to (just past) a small muni airport at Spencer, IA.
http://skyvector.com/?icao=61C+ICR&m...
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