| King Air Crash in Utah Kills 9 from Skydive Salt Lake On January 14, 2001, at approximately 5:30 p.m., a King air returning from a skydiving weekend at Mesquite Municipal Airport, Mesquite, Nevada, to its home in Tooele, Utah/USA, crashed into the Great Salt Lake, about five miles north of the airport killing all aboard.
The pilot, John T. Cashmen, had not filed a flight plan, so airport officials were not expecting the plane. Authorities were alerted hours later when an anxious relative called the airport. The dead were identified as the pilot, John T. Cashmen, 41; and passengers Mike C. Hurren, 51, a co-owner of Skydive Salt Lake; his wife, Gayle Hurren, 45; Lisa Ellis, 34; Nathan B. Hall, 28; Denise Stott, 26; Charles Wilson, 31; Merriah Hutson, 25; and Jay Johnson, 24.
Radar tape recordings were checked to aid in determining what went wrong with the fatal flight. A local sheriff, Frank Scharmann, said that the tapes indicated the plane was banking for a final turn and then suddenly spiralled into the lake. It crashed about a mile away from shore in five feet of water.
Although a light snow feel on the Sunday of the accident, there was no indication that there was any relation to the crash.
The story in the media:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,245014462,00.html
http://www.sltrib.com/2001/Jan/01162001/utah/62911.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/smallplane_010115.html
http://foxnews.com/national/011501/plane_crash.sml
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/01/15/utah.crash.01/index.html
Report of the National Transportation and Safety Board [NTSB]
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NTSB Identification: DEN01FA041
Accident occurred Sunday, January 14, 2001 at Lake Point, UT Aircraft:Beech 65-A90, registration: N616F Injuries: 9 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.
On January 14, 2001, at 1729 mountain standard time, a Beech 65-A90, N616F, owned by Flanagan Enterprises (Nevada), Inc., and operated by William C. Dause, doing business as Skydive Salt Lake, was destroyed when it collided with water while descending near Lake Point, Utah. The airline transport certificated pilot and eight passengers were fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the accident site, and a VFR flight plan had been filed but was never activated. The personal flight, being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, originated at Mesquite, Nevada, approximately 1615.
According to the owner, the pilot and passengers had flown to Mesquite on January 12 to sky dive, and were returning to Tooele when the accident occurred. The pilot obtained a weather briefing from the Reno, Nevada, Flight Service Station, and filed a VFR flight plan. He advised the briefer he could "make [an] IFR approach if necessary." The flight plan was never activated. The owner said the airplane was equipped for VFR flight only, and the only navigational receiver on board was a hand-held GPS receiver. Witnesses at the airport and in the immediate vicinity of the accident site said there was light snow falling and visibility was about 1/4-mile.
Radar data indicates the airplane did not fly the filed route but rather flew direct to Tooele. It passed over the Tooele Airport and flew out over the Great Salt Lake, where it began a 2,000 fpm descending left turn. The wreckage was located about 1/2-mile off shore and about 2-1/2 miles north of the Tooele Airport, on the extended runway centerline, in 5-foot deep water. Approximately 85 percent of the wreckage has been recovered.
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