Interesting story, found on CNN.com today, about the Mid-Atlantic 208 crash back in Oct 2002.
Part of the story, for the full article see:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/05/21/mystery.plane/index.html
SPANISH FORT, Alabama (CNN) -- Moira Wade hitches her boat to a plastic pole stuck in the "puff mud" of Big Bateau Bay.
Then, in what has become a ritual, she tends to a makeshift memorial to her brother. She tapes artificial flowers on the pole, polishes a solar-powered lantern, and opts not to replace the framed photograph of Tommy. The sun still hasn't faded the old photo.
"I have to come out here," she says, her New York accent deeply out of place in this Alabama marsh. "I feel at peace when I'm here. And when I am not here, all I can think about is being here."
It is here where Wade's brother -- 54-year-old cargo plane pilot Thomas J. Preziose -- plunged to his death the evening of October 23, 2002. The pole marks the spot where the cockpit was found; the place where his remains were recovered.
Preziose's crash, like almost all air crashes, contained elements of mystery from the start. But accident investigators will tell you that this crash is more confounding than most.
Here are the most intriguing aspects:
-- Investigators found red streaks -- transfer marks, they call them -- on various pieces of the shredded Cessna pulled from the muck. The red does not match red mail bags or other objects known to be on the plane.
-- Investigators also found a small piece of black anodized aluminum embedded in the skin of Preziose's plane. The aluminum is not from the accident airplane.
Those facts led National Transportation Safety Board accident investigator Butch Wilson to conclude the Preziose's Cessna 208B Caravan "collided in-flight with an unknown object."
That statement, part of an interim report released last month, has heightened speculation among local pilots, aviation buffs and conspiracy theorists about the demise of Night Ship 282, the call sign for the Preziose's flight.
Theories abound. Some believe Night Ship 282 collided with a drug runner's plane, the loss of which might go unreported. Some wonder if Night Ship 282 was pelted by a meteor or space junk. Others think it collided with a military drone run amok, or perhaps was hit by a missile.
Some even suggest the plane was struck by terrorists, perhaps aiming at a larger plane nearby.
NTSB officials are not embracing their investigator's statement that Night Ship 282 "collided ... with an unknown object." They say the statement is analytical in nature, and does not belong in the factual report.
But neither are they running away from the possibility of a mid-air collision.
Instead, prompted by the factual report and by the interest it is generating, they have taken the unusual step this month of reclaiming the aircraft wreckage from the insurance company and shipped it to the Washington area for a closer inspection.
Still, investigators are reluctant to suggest that any theory looks more promising than another.
"I don't see a scenario that fits everything yet," said one source close to the investigation. "I think that's where we're at right now. As far as I'm concerned, nothing's ruled out. There's no reason to rule anything out. Everything's on the table right now."
The Pilot
Moira Wade describes her brother as fun-loving and gregarious, with an almost lifelong love of flying.
Born in the Bronx, the oldest of six children, Preziose started flying in the military, and wanted to be a helicopter pilot. Instead, he became an Army helicopter medic, serving in Vietnam.
Back home, he joined the New York Police Department, serving for 23 years before retiring in 1994. When the World Trade Center was attacked years later, he returned to the city and spent three weeks "digging people out," his sister says.
After his retirement from the force, Preziose held several jobs and ambitions, eventually landing as a simulator instructor, teaching pilots how to fly the Cessna Caravan.
But flying real planes, not simulators, was in Preziose's blood, according to his sister. And in July 2002, Preziose got a job with Mid-Atlantic Freight, flying a Cessna Caravan on a nightly cargo run from Mobile to Montgomery, Alabama, and Atlanta.
The Flight
At 7:40 p.m. -- four months into his new job -- Preziose set off on a run. He was carrying 420 pounds of cargo for DHL, including a shipment of baseball hats.
It was dark and overcast, and there was light precipitation in the area, forcing Preziose to use his instruments.
Before departing from Mobile Downtown Airport, Preziose asked controllers at what altitude he would encounter freezing temperatures, saying he wanted to fly at 9,000 feet "because the radar's out." That comment -- some say -- indicates the plane's weather radar was not operating.
Controllers told him the freezing level was 11,500 feet -- well above his intended cruising altitude.
Preziose departed headed directly north, and controllers directed him to climb to 3,000 feet and turn right, towards the east. The controller also advised him that an inbound DC-10 aircraft was flying south at 4,000 feet.
A minute later, the controller told Preziose that the DC-10 was two miles away at the "one o'clock" position, suggesting that the large aircraft had passed him and was slightly to his right. But a post-accident analysis of radar data suggests that that was incorrect. The plane was still to Preziose's left.
Whatever the problem was, Preziose evidently saw the large plane. "Roger," he replied, "I got him above me right now."
At about the time he was speaking those words, Preziose's plane began a fairly rapid, but apparently controlled, descent. In the next 14 seconds, his plane dropped from 2,900 feet to 2,400 feet. It was then that Preziose made what was to be his last radio transmission: "I needed to deviate, I needed to deviate, I needed to deviate, I needed ... "
His plane began an uncontrolled descent into the swamp.
Preziose's last flight lasted about four minutes. A frog hunter in an airboat, pressed into service by rescuers, found the aircraft that night.
Part of the story, for the full article see:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/05/21/mystery.plane/index.html
SPANISH FORT, Alabama (CNN) -- Moira Wade hitches her boat to a plastic pole stuck in the "puff mud" of Big Bateau Bay.
Then, in what has become a ritual, she tends to a makeshift memorial to her brother. She tapes artificial flowers on the pole, polishes a solar-powered lantern, and opts not to replace the framed photograph of Tommy. The sun still hasn't faded the old photo.
"I have to come out here," she says, her New York accent deeply out of place in this Alabama marsh. "I feel at peace when I'm here. And when I am not here, all I can think about is being here."
It is here where Wade's brother -- 54-year-old cargo plane pilot Thomas J. Preziose -- plunged to his death the evening of October 23, 2002. The pole marks the spot where the cockpit was found; the place where his remains were recovered.
Preziose's crash, like almost all air crashes, contained elements of mystery from the start. But accident investigators will tell you that this crash is more confounding than most.
Here are the most intriguing aspects:
-- Investigators found red streaks -- transfer marks, they call them -- on various pieces of the shredded Cessna pulled from the muck. The red does not match red mail bags or other objects known to be on the plane.
-- Investigators also found a small piece of black anodized aluminum embedded in the skin of Preziose's plane. The aluminum is not from the accident airplane.
Those facts led National Transportation Safety Board accident investigator Butch Wilson to conclude the Preziose's Cessna 208B Caravan "collided in-flight with an unknown object."
That statement, part of an interim report released last month, has heightened speculation among local pilots, aviation buffs and conspiracy theorists about the demise of Night Ship 282, the call sign for the Preziose's flight.
Theories abound. Some believe Night Ship 282 collided with a drug runner's plane, the loss of which might go unreported. Some wonder if Night Ship 282 was pelted by a meteor or space junk. Others think it collided with a military drone run amok, or perhaps was hit by a missile.
Some even suggest the plane was struck by terrorists, perhaps aiming at a larger plane nearby.
NTSB officials are not embracing their investigator's statement that Night Ship 282 "collided ... with an unknown object." They say the statement is analytical in nature, and does not belong in the factual report.
But neither are they running away from the possibility of a mid-air collision.
Instead, prompted by the factual report and by the interest it is generating, they have taken the unusual step this month of reclaiming the aircraft wreckage from the insurance company and shipped it to the Washington area for a closer inspection.
Still, investigators are reluctant to suggest that any theory looks more promising than another.
"I don't see a scenario that fits everything yet," said one source close to the investigation. "I think that's where we're at right now. As far as I'm concerned, nothing's ruled out. There's no reason to rule anything out. Everything's on the table right now."
The Pilot
Moira Wade describes her brother as fun-loving and gregarious, with an almost lifelong love of flying.
Born in the Bronx, the oldest of six children, Preziose started flying in the military, and wanted to be a helicopter pilot. Instead, he became an Army helicopter medic, serving in Vietnam.
Back home, he joined the New York Police Department, serving for 23 years before retiring in 1994. When the World Trade Center was attacked years later, he returned to the city and spent three weeks "digging people out," his sister says.
After his retirement from the force, Preziose held several jobs and ambitions, eventually landing as a simulator instructor, teaching pilots how to fly the Cessna Caravan.
But flying real planes, not simulators, was in Preziose's blood, according to his sister. And in July 2002, Preziose got a job with Mid-Atlantic Freight, flying a Cessna Caravan on a nightly cargo run from Mobile to Montgomery, Alabama, and Atlanta.
The Flight
At 7:40 p.m. -- four months into his new job -- Preziose set off on a run. He was carrying 420 pounds of cargo for DHL, including a shipment of baseball hats.
It was dark and overcast, and there was light precipitation in the area, forcing Preziose to use his instruments.
Before departing from Mobile Downtown Airport, Preziose asked controllers at what altitude he would encounter freezing temperatures, saying he wanted to fly at 9,000 feet "because the radar's out." That comment -- some say -- indicates the plane's weather radar was not operating.
Controllers told him the freezing level was 11,500 feet -- well above his intended cruising altitude.
Preziose departed headed directly north, and controllers directed him to climb to 3,000 feet and turn right, towards the east. The controller also advised him that an inbound DC-10 aircraft was flying south at 4,000 feet.
A minute later, the controller told Preziose that the DC-10 was two miles away at the "one o'clock" position, suggesting that the large aircraft had passed him and was slightly to his right. But a post-accident analysis of radar data suggests that that was incorrect. The plane was still to Preziose's left.
Whatever the problem was, Preziose evidently saw the large plane. "Roger," he replied, "I got him above me right now."
At about the time he was speaking those words, Preziose's plane began a fairly rapid, but apparently controlled, descent. In the next 14 seconds, his plane dropped from 2,900 feet to 2,400 feet. It was then that Preziose made what was to be his last radio transmission: "I needed to deviate, I needed to deviate, I needed to deviate, I needed ... "
His plane began an uncontrolled descent into the swamp.
Preziose's last flight lasted about four minutes. A frog hunter in an airboat, pressed into service by rescuers, found the aircraft that night.
