Wreckage could uncover deadly crash’s cause says NTSB
LAFAYETTE, LA — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is moving its investigation of Lafayette’s deadly plane crash to the nation’s capital. Monday the board held its final on-site press conference over Saturday’s tragedy.
Five people died in the crash: the plane’s pilot, 51-year-old Ian Bigg, 59-year-old Robert Vaughn Crisp II, 51-year-old Gretchen D. Vincent, 15-year-old Michael Walker Vincent, and 30-year-old Carley Ann McCord.
37-year-old Stephen Wade Berzas was the lone survivor. Doctors say he remains in critical condition. 30-year-old Danielle Truxillo Britt is recovering at a New Orleans burn center. The plane crash impacted her car which caught fire.
With the wreckage cleared from the Lafayette crash site, we learned what it’s next destination will be during the NTSB’s final on-site conference. Investigators also revealed what they are focusing on in their search for answers.
“We are not ruling anything in or anything out,” announced NTSB Vice-Chairman Bruce Landsberg.
The early days of the investigation into Lafayette’s crash which killed five have given little answers, but Monday’s press conference gave some preliminary areas of interest.
The NTSB said the two-engine Cheyenne II crashed in one piece since they found all four corners at the crash site.
What could be salvaged is being sent from Lafayette to D.C. for analysis. That includes flight panels. Some are in reasonable condition and can be used to determine what the plane was doing during the crash.
Both engines are heavily damaged but rotational scoring and other indicators could show how powered the engines were or even if they were unequally powered, perhaps causing the left spiral descent which witnesses saw ahead of impact.
“Despite heavy damage, there are well-known signatures of operation, so both the manufacturers and our people are experts at finding what the engine was doing at the time,” explained Landsberg.
The physical evidence is so important because so far there is no indication of a distress call from the plane at any point during its short and deadly one minute flight and following crash.
The deceased pilot, Ian Biggs, was revealed to have over 1,500 hours of flight time behind the controls. Biggs just passed a medical test in November, and the plane was last serviced on October 17.
It was last flown December 18 by Biggs, a 40 minute trip from Houston to Lafayette.
“The pilot had flown the airplane so what we will do is ascertain how much the pilot has flown,” added Lead NTSB Investigator Jennifer Rodi.
With the investigation moving elsewhere, Lafayette Fire Department Chief Robert Benoit said Lafayette is beginning a slow healing process, “Now we’re moving into another phase of this incident which is to help the families bury their loved ones.”
Benoit said fire and police officers have been counseled for the tragedy, and Mayor-President-Elect Josh Guillory is asking for patience while we wait up to 18 months for final investigation report and closure. Guillory ended saying, “We are lafayette and we will get through this together.”
The NTSB said 6 witnesses have come forward, but they are asking anyone who might have audio surveillance to email it to witness@ntsb.gov.
A preliminary report is expected within the next one to two weeks. A final report normally takes 12-18 months.