Cargo plane crash at CVG

[Homer Jay]

Enquirer News Update - Updated 10:04 a.m.

[font=arial,helvetica]Cargo plane crashes near CVG; one dead[/font] [font=arial,helvetica][/font]
​

The Cincinnati Enquirer
and The Associated Press


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Investigators look at the tail section of a DHL cargo plane that crashed early today.
(AP photo)

The tail rests on a golf course at World of Sports in Florence.
(Pat Reddy photo)

[/font][font=arial,helvetica]VIDEO [/font][font=arial,helvetica]

Original WCPO video

5:30 a.m. update

6 a.m. update

[/font]FLORENCE - A cargo plane carrying two people crashed early Friday near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, killing one of two people on board, an airport spokesman said.

Airport spokesman Ted Bushelman said the pilot walked away from the crash and was taken to the hospital. The co-pilot's body was found after daybreak, several hours after the crash, Bushelman said.

The pilot was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but the hospital was not named.

Authorities have not identified either member of the flight crew.

The plane took off last night from Memphis, Tenn. and crashed around 1 a.m. into the city of Florence's World of Sports golf course off Woodpoint Road.

Woodpoint runs north from Burlington Pike, east and parallel to Houston Road, before Woodpoint veers back to the west and joins Houston.

"He was coming in for a landing. It was less than a mile from the runway," Bushelman said.

The plane broke apart near some trees lining one of the golf course fairways.

Air Tahoma, a Columbus-based contractor for DHL, flew the airplane Bushelman said.

The company supports many major overnight express companies and companies utilizing just in time inventory systems. All scheduled and heavy maintenance on company aircraft is accomplished at its Rickenbacker maintenance facility. In addition, all dispatch and operations planning are performed at Rickenbacker Airport.

Air Tahoma was founded by Noel Rude in 1996 and is headquartered at Rickenbacker Airport, according to the company's Web site. Air Tahoma is a spin-off from Cool Air, Inc., which was founded in 1986 by Noel Rude and his father Bud Rude, who is a life long veteran of the airline industry.

The company, which has governmental approval to fly domestically and to Canada and Mexico, works for many major overnight express companies and companies utilizing just in time inventory systems. All scheduled and heavy maintenance on company aircraft is accomplished at its Rickenbacker maintenance facility. In addition, all dispatch and operations planning are performed at Rickenbacker Airport.

The FBI was investigating and told local authorities not to touch anything at the crash scene, Bushelman said. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive later Friday.

Houston Road was closed for a time this morning due to the crash, but was reopened. The airport remained opened despite the crash, although runway 36R, which is where the plane was to land, was closed between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.

The last major disaster near or at the local airport was on June 2, 1983, when the lavatory of Air Canada DC-9 caught fire in flight and landed at CVG. Twenty-three were killed.

One person died when a TWA Boeing 707 crashed on take off at CVG on June 11, 1967.

But the worst local air disaster occurred on Aug. 11, 1965, when an American Airlines Boeing 727 crashed on landing at the airport. Fifty-eight people died.

Safety records for neither Air Tahoma nor the plane that crashed Friday were immediately available.

A DHL-operated Boeing 757 collided in July 2002 over Ueberlingen, Germany (in the southern province of Baden-Wuerttemberg, across the Bodensee from Austria) with another jet. A Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev TU-154 that responded late to an air traffic controller's orders to descend to avoid a crash hit the DHL jet. The two-person flight crews on both planes were killed. A DHL Airbus 300 was hit last November shortly after takeoff from the Baghdad International Airport by a surface-to-air missile. The flight crew landed the plane successfully, despite serious damage to one of the jet's wings.

 

[JetPilot_Mike]

Air Tahoma Crash @CVG

This belongs more in the cargo section, but an Air Tahoma Convair crashed on approach into CVG this morning at around 0100. From the early reports I saw, the captain survived with minor injuries and the FO was missing and presumed dead. Again, that was from the news reports that I saw at 0645.

UPDATE: The FO was found dead.

http://www.cincinnatinow.com/news/2004/local/08/13/dhl.html

Better info: http://www.enquirer.com/midday/08/08132004_News_mday_planecrash.html

God bless.

 

[b737drivr]

I flew for these guys many years ago. It used to be called Cool Air. I am sorry to hear this happened. My heart goes out to the First Officers family.

 

[T-Gates]

I used to hang with theese guys every night in CVG....extremely sad...

To the FO...Rest In Peace my friend.....and best of luck in his recovery to the Captain.

 

[JetPilot_Mike]

I just drove by the site on my way home from lunch. If you know the area, it is just North of Hooters on Houston, and just north of the newish business park. Little tree covered hill. Lots of buildings just to the south of the area. If they would have just made it another 100 yards they would have hit the road and a clearing.

 

[FinalOverERI]

and just north of the newish business park. Little tree covered hill. .

Isn't that hill the edge of the golf course that runs behind Kmart and just south of the Home Depot complex?

 

[V-1]

Condolences to all whose lives these crewmembers touched.

Shame on the Boone County Coroner quoted in the Cincinnati Enquirer article (http://www.enquirer.com/midday/08/08132004_News_mday_planecrash.html).

"There was an enormous amount of jet fuel smell,'' Stith said. "It's a wonder it didn't ignite. The fact that it didn't catch fire is probably what saved the pilot's life. God was definitely watching over him.''

I guess "God" doesn't watch over First Officers.

 

[flyinyourShorts]

Guess God does look over Captains...

God must watch over Captains, he got me out of there less than two months ago! I barely knew the F/O, and did not know the Captain.

Seems the rumors around the fire are saying the Captain had only 20 or so hours PIC and had no IOE(or OE or whatever they are calling it nowdays) because the Chief Pilot said he "didn't need any". With their training program i'm willing to bet he had little training in the airplane anyway.

I love in the news story they talked about the company "spokesman". I laughed at that loud because their spokesman is nothing more than a flight follower that is known for his big mouth. I shure would hate to be running a company after something like this happenes, and then hearing my flight follower is spilling the beans to the media!

We have been saying for years that Air Tahoma and the Rudes were going to kill somebody, looks like they finally did! Maybe the FAA will once and forever close their doors.

 

[JetPilot_Mike]

Isn't that hill the edge of the golf course that runs behind Kmart and just south of the Home Depot complex?

Yes, that's the World of Sports Golf course. It's by Kohls.

 

[hyperboy]

Air Tahoma

Flyinyourshorts-

I find all of your thoughts rather amusing after the fact. Where were you when me and others spoke of saftey and how things should not have been run? We were fired you did'nt call us or nothing. we could'nt do a thing cause other pilots turned their back on us. We were trying to do a good thing and prevent this from ever happening.. Whistle blower, OSHA, and witness accounts yet when it came to you, you turned your back on us and left us dry. In fact I know for a fact that you lied your ass off behind our backs when people investigated , but openly supported us to our faces. Shame on you, at least you coul've been honest. Right?! You sleep on that one buddy cause I have never forgotten that since WE got fired there. The thing is I know you know I'm right. It's nice of you to show up and express your distaste after the fact. Your just giving us boring and OLD facts....that we already knew and spoke of. To bad cause we tried to prevent this and you are ready to tell us something we already knew Welcome Aboard!!!!!!

 

[bvt1151]

The plane reported engine trouble then hit the golf course on the seventh hole. Apparently things were fine until they hit the trees on the north end. Copilot was buried under boxes and was not found until daybreak, but the Captain and his seat were thrown clear. Police said they found him walking around the wreckage looking for his first officer.

Horrible...

Just read the paper, and they said the Captain was found sitting on a bench near the fairway on the phone with dispatch. I wouldn't suppose their number is 9-1-1, is it?

 

[cargojunkie]

burn mr rude

I worked here about 5 months ago. They Company had lost 8 engines in the last 6 months. It's funny to here a Captain talk that flew a convair 900 miles across the south China sea with two bad engines, over gross, in an illegal operation.

The Owners care about the dollar period.

I hope Noel Rude gets his. One thing for shure, he will burn in hell.

God Bless The F.O. and his family.

 

[I'm42]

The plane reported engine trouble then hit the golf course on the seventh hole. Apparently things were fine until they hit the trees on the north end. Copilot was buried under boxes and was not found until daybreak, but the Captain and his seat were thrown clear. Police said they found him walking around the wreckage looking for his first officer.

Horrible...

That's awful! I can't imagine how terrible it must have felt to wander around looking for his FO.

 

[Dave Benjamin]

We have been saying for years that Air Tahoma and the Rudes were going to kill somebody, looks like they finally did! Maybe the FAA will once and forever close their doors.

Sadly the FAA probably won't do much. It's cargo and the so called single level of safety is a joke. Lots of us have worked for cruddy 135 operators. I worked for one that averaged one hull loss per year and we had less than 10 aircraft. FAA didn't care a bit. The main thing they looked at was paperwork. If the paperwork was in order everything was OK. I hope I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure this Air Tahoma outfit will be endangering pilots for years to come.

 

[Blueridge]

An update from the Cincinnati Enquirer

---------
By James Pilcher
Enquirer staff writer


HEBRON - Federal investigators today released more details on Friday's crash of a cargo plane near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport that killed the co-pilot.

But while officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said that the Air Tahoma flight from Memphis appeared completely routine until its final minutes, they did not give any guess as to what brought the Convair 580 down into a Florence golf course just 1.2 miles short of its intended runway.

"It is still only a day and a half after the accident," said safety board member Carol Carmody. "We have recovered quite a bit, but we are not going to speculate on any possible causes."

But investigators did say the crew was heard on the cockpit voice recorder talking about low power from one and then both of the plane's engines. The last radar contact with the plane, more than a mile south of the airport, showed it was moving at what is a Convair 580's normal landing speeding.

The co-pilot was killed in the crash, which occurred at about 12:50 a.m. The pilot was able to walk away and was still being treated today at University Hospital for his injuries.

Neither member of the flight crew, which was based in Memphis, was identified by Air Tahoma as of this afternoon.

Investigators said today that the plane was built in 1967. Carmody also said that the plane, which was used primarily in Europe and had carried cargo its entire career, had undergone a routine maintenance check on Tuesday in Memphis. Investigators were still collecting other records on the plane, an effort made more difficult by the fact that Air Tahoma purchased the plane on July 19.

The Columbus-based cargo carrier contracts with DHL to carry freight between Cincinnati and three cities, including Memphis. DHL operates a major domestic freight hub locally at the Cincinnati airport.

Carmody said investigators held a brief interview with the pilot Friday and planned to debrief him further over the weekend, because he was not able to tell them much initially due to his condition.

She also said investigators were able to review a tape of the conversation between the pilots and air traffic controllers and the cockpit voice recorder recovered soon after the crash.

According to Carmody, the tapes showed that the approach to the airport was normal.

The plane received clearance to land at 12:44 a.m., with no sign of trouble.

Three minutes later, at 12:47 a.m., the pilots indicated they were having engine problems, and the tower responded by asking if the pilots wanted emergency trucks to respond.

Carmody said the pilots told the tower no, saying they indicated that they "were going straight." She said that it had not yet been determined which pilot was controlling the plane.

At that point, the plane's altitude was 2,200 feet and its speed was 150 knots or about 173 mph.

The last radar contact was less than three minutes later, with the air speed at 110 knots or 127 mph and the altitude at 1,200 feet.

Carmody said that a preliminary investigation of the engines showed that they were at "low power," but she declined to characterize that further or whether the power level was normal for a landing.

But the Web site for Prop-Liners of America, a non-profit group based in Hartford, Conn. that exhibits and restores propeller-powered aircraft, lists the typical approach speed for a Convair 580 at 130 knots or 150 mph. It posts 110 knots or 125 mph as the landing speed.

The engines were sent to Indianapolis for further inspection by Allison Engines, which made the power plants and is now a part of Rolls Royce.

Carmody said a preliminary review of the voice recorder indicated that the pilots had conversations about a minor control problem, fuel management, and "low power in one and then both of the engines."

She said both the voice and data recorders quit operating just before impact.

The on-site investigation is expected to conclude Monday. After that, the probe will shift back to Washington with further analysis of the flight data and voice recorders.

 

[flagshipper]

Wow this is a wakeup for me. I know i should not do what ifs but i was called 6 months ago for an interview at air tahoma and I turned it down because everyone here on flightinfo told me to avoid that place like a plague. I am glad i listened

 

[FN FAL]

You have be careful with using fate as a logical way of looking at events.

What if your not taking the job at Air Tahoma, killed this pilot? Supposing you did take the job at Air Tahoma and the accident never happened because you were more alert to whatever happened?

What if you would have taken the job and while working there at Air Tahoma, you witnessed something that led to the arrest of a guy that would have eventually murdered a family of six, had you not been there?

What if you are stopping for ice cream on the way home from your current job and a van load of horny ebola monkeys on their way to the CDC lab tips over right next to you? You'll be sitting there wondering why you didn't take that job, during a yet another session of wild monkey sex.

What if?

 

[flyguy22]

Shorts guy.. Is this Steve Mathis?

Your statements are terrible, the dust hasn't even settled from the crash and you are saying some pretty harsh things. No one knows what happened yet.

I heard that you recently applied for the Chief Pilot spot there only a short time ago. I also heard that you trained crews while you were there. I also heard that you recently quit because you got a higher paying job somewhere else?? Sounds like you are stabbing your fellow pilots and employer in the back!

Instead of bashing for personal gain, I hope everyone will stop and support our fellow pilots when they need us the most.

 

[flyguy22]

................

 

[hyperboy]

Mathis

He probably won't respond to any of these threads cause he is a sell-out and now he knows it............