Planemasters Lost a Caravan?

[Chi Town]

I heard Planemasters lost a Caravan while on approach at RFD on the 17th. Unfortunately the pilot was killed. Any information on this?

 

[UPS Capt]

Cause of plane crash unknown
The NTSB is investigating the death of a Montgomery pilot.
By CORINA CURRY‚ Rockford Register Star
>> Click here for more about Corina


ROCKFORD — Federal authorities are investigating why a single-engine plane crashed in a remote field outside Greater Rockford Airport late Tuesday, killing a 42-year-old Montgomery man.

Donald Emmons was en route to the airport to deliver a load of small packages for UPS when his Cessna 208 Caravan crashed about two miles southwest of the airport around 11 p.m. Emmons died of head injuries sustained in the accident, the Winnebago County coroner’s office said late Wednesday.

Emmons’ death was the first airplane-related fatality near Greater Rockford Airport since 1993, when two people died as their plane crashed shortly after takeoff.

UPS operates an overnight package sorting hub at the airport. The company is also the airport’s largest tenant, operating 25 flights daily and employing 1,100 people. Passenger service was halted in June 2001.

The lead investigator of the accident, Pam Sullivan of the National Transportation Safety Board, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia said Emmons’ relatives from the Quad Cities area would not be available for comment Wednesday.

“They’re devastated,” Fiduccia said.

Sgt. Scott Andrews of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s police said airplane crashes near Greater Rockford Airport are rare.

“Fortunately, accidents like this are unusual,” Andrews said. “In that respect, we’re lucky we don’t have a lot of traffic out there.”

No explosion, no fire

A resident who lives along the westward approach to the airport near the Kishwaukee River called Winnebago County sheriff’s police after hearing a plane flying low over the trees and then smelling gas.

The plane crashed, but there was no explosion and no fire. Six sheriff’s deputies searched for about two hours, at times using night vision goggles, before finding Emmons’ body and the wrecked aircraft.

The plane apparently hit several trees before coming to rest near the edge of a field at 7625 Kishwaukee Road.

According to the National Weather Service, the skies above Rockford at 11 p.m. Tuesday were foggy, windy and cold. The temperature was 35 degrees and there was fog and light rain. East winds were 20 miles per hour, gusting up to 23 miles per hour. The wind chill was 24 degrees.

NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration officials spent Wednesday investigating the muddy crash scene on the far side of an open field near the riverbank.

Of 15 plane crashes in the Rock River Valley in the past 20 years, only two occurred near Greater Rockford Airport. In January 1999, Dr. Jerry Weiskopf, piloting a single-engine plane, was injured when he missed the runway and crash-landed in a field near the airport. In August 1993, Esom Eassa of Palos Hills and Melina Drossoulis of Morton Grove died when their twin-engine light plane crashed in a soybean field south of Rockford, near the intersection of Baxter and Harrisville roads. The plane had taken off from Greater Rockford Airport.

Airport Director Bob O’Brien said he doesn’t know if Emmons was in contact with Rockford’s air traffic control before the crash. He would not speculate on the cause of the accident.

“The NTSB are the ones who will take all of that instrument information, wind shear and communication with air traffic control to determine the cause of the crash,” O’Brien said.

 

[flx757]

NTSB Identification: CHI03FA041

14 CFRPart 135 operation of Air Taxi & Commuter Planemaster, Inc. (D.B.A. Planemasters)
Accident occurred Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at Rockford, IL
Aircraft:Cessna 208B, registration: N277PM
Injuries: 1 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 December 17, 2002, at 2251 central standard time, a Cessna 208B, N277PM, operated by Planemasters as flight 1627, collided with the trees and terrain while on the ILS Runway 07 approach to the Greater Rockford Airport (RFD), Rockford, Illinois. The pilot received fatal injuries and the airplane was destroyed. The 14 CFR Part 135 cargo flight was transporting cargo for United Parcel Service at the time of the accident. The flight was operating in instrument meteorological conditions and an IFR flight plan was filed. The airplane departed Decatur, Illinois, at 2154.

Flight 1627 was flying the ILS runway 07 approach and had been cleared to land on runway 07 when it disappeared from radar. The airplane came to rest approximately 2 miles west-southwest of RFD, just north of the localizer for runway 07. The airplane descended through the trees for a distance of approximately 300 feet prior to coming to rest. The main portion of the fuselage was located in a plowed field next to a tree line. The majority of the remainder of the wreckage was located in the wooded area.