Sarasota Airport received report of near collision between two jets on day before crash that killed four pilots

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Sarasota Airport received report of near collision between two jets on day before crash that killed four pilots

Investigators: Plane crossed into takeoff path Officials don't know why one of the planes entered the runway as the other was at takeoff speed.

Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune Publication date: Mar 11, 2000

Less than 24 hours after arriving at the wreckage piled on Runway 14, National Transportation Safety Board investigators have ruled out mechanical failure in the deaths of four local pilots at Sarasota- Bradenton International Airport.

After examining the remnants of the two Cessna aircraft and collecting other facts, Jeff Kennedy, lead NTSB investigator, said Friday that one of the single-engine planes cut the other off on the runway Thursday morning.

"The 152 was taking off and the 172 entered the runway and collided with it," said Kennedy.

Kennedy said he doesn't know why the four-seat Cessna 172 entered the runway when the two-seat Cessna 152 was traveling close to a full takeoff speed of 65 to 70 knots. The NTSB investigation should take about six months to complete.

Kennedy said he and investigator John Lovell have determined that the two-seater, which carried instructor Lori Lynn Bahrenburg, 26, and her student, Charles Heffner, 80, had permission to take off. Kennedy said their plane was about 1,200 feet down the runway when the four-seater Cessna, carrying Julius Taubman, 81, and David Mouckley, 75, pulled out of the taxiway and slammed into them. According to Pat Cariseo, a spokesman for NTSB in Washington, D.C., the planes collided with such force that "the 152 somehow got on top of the 172."

Before bursting into what witnesses have described as a giant ball of flames, Cariseo said, "they went down the runway inverted about 65 feet."

Kennedy and Lovell, who arrived by car from the Miami field office Thursday night, surveyed the crash scene, interviewed witnesses and took field notes and photos.

About 7:30 p.m. Thursday, airport workers moved the heap of charred metal off the main runway.

Kennedy said the investigators planned to wrap up their inspection of the wreckage Friday night. NTSB air traffic control expert Bill English was dispatched from Washington, D.C., on Thursday. He listened to recordings of the final minutes of conversations between the airport tower and the two planes.

Most general aviation planes are not required by law to have onboard flight data recorders, and Kennedy said neither plane had one.

Although English could not be reached for comment, Cariseo said it's not uncommon to dispatch a traffic expert. He said Kennedy asked for the extra help.

On Friday, an employee from Cessna joined Kennedy and Lovell in surveying the wreckage.

Cariseo said that once the investigators finish at the airport they can either release the charred wreckage to owners or insurance companies or keep the pieces they need for as long as they want.

"We release the wreckage when we believe we have what we need," Cariseo said.

"But, we don't turn it over until we're sure," he said, adding that the agency has pieces of a [US Airways] jet from a 1994 crash stored in a Pittsburgh warehouse.

But before filing their final report with the transportation board, Cariseo said, the investigators have to examine the wreckage, the engines and the Federal Aviation Administration records on the pilots. The investigators also have to take such factors as the weather, runway conditions and air traffic control into account.

"Unless something is extremely obvious, we have to start by eliminating things," he said.

Once the investigation is handed off to NTSB headquarters in Washington, it may take an additional six months before a ruling is made on the cause of the crash.

Cariseo said the NTSB investigates 1,900 private and commercial plane crashes each year and about 300 other crashes, which can involve ships, trains, cars, buses or trucks.

The day before the fatal crash, a Sarasota County man called the FAA to report what he said was a near-collision of two aircraft.

Art Gale, who lives less than a mile from the airport, said he witnessed a near-collision between two jets at the airport at about 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Matt Hedrick of the FAA's aviation safety hot line would only confirm that he spoke to Gale. Staff writer Eileen Kelley contributed to this report. Latest updates

Stay tuned to SNN Channel 6 on Comcast Cable and visit www.newscoast.com for the latest on the plane crash Thursday at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. Publication date: Mar 11, 2000 ) 2000, NewsReal, Inc.

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