DA Plans To Refile Based On Information In NTSB Probable Cause
Report
Citing new evidence in the recently
released NTSB Probable Cause report on a December 16, 2006 Oklahoma
airplane accident, the state's 13th Judicial District Attorney's
Office plans to refile manslaughter charges against pilot Thomas
Brent Caldwell.
As ANN reported earlier this
year, manslaughter charges against Caldwell were
dropped in May, after District Judge Robert Haney found the "cause
of the accident was the engine stalling, there is no evidence of
why the engine stalled and, more importantly, no evidence of the
defendant doing something that was of criminal nature that 'caused'
the engine to stall that resulted in the crash that resulted in the
deaths."
Caldwell, 30, had been charged with three counts of first-degree
manslaughter in the deaths of Mariano Carlos Casas, 15, of Pryor;
Eduardo Ortiz Robles, 20, of Mexico; and Campos Gonzalez, 33, also
of Mexico. The men were trapped when their Bellanca Viking lost
power and went down in Grand Lake, east of Tulsa, OK.
Caldwell, who was flying the aircraft, was able to escape the
plane and swim for shore. Police earlier said Caldwell was
intoxicated when they found him.
Prosecutors left open the possibility the charges would be
refiled, depending on what the NTSB's final report had to say. That
report, released July 25, states "the examination of the airplane
revealed no pre-impact anomalies" with the aircraft or its
engine.
The report goes on to state Caldwell's "improper" decision to
lower the Viking's landing gear before the water landing
contributed to the crash... and makes note of the fact authorities
detected alcohol on his breath, and that his speech was
slurred.
Caldwell told police he drank two margaritas about two hours
before the accident. The NTSB also says five liqour bottles -- four
opened -- were found inside the plane.
No trace of alcohol was detected in Caldwell's system, however,
when he was given a blood-alcohol test six hours after the crash.
He refused to be interviewed by the NTSB Investigator In-Charge,
and declined to submit a completed accident report form.
The pilot also declined to submit his pilot logbook for
examination. FAA records indicate Caldwell has never held a private
pilot license, or a student pilot certificate.