October 2007 Downing Near White Pass, WA Claimed 10
The attorney representing the families of nine skydivers killed
when their Cessna 208B Grand Caravan crashed near White Pass, WA in
October 2007 says the plane performs poorly in icing conditions...
and moreover, that both Cessna and Goodrich, maker of the deicing
system, know it.
"They had the numbers of each plane that had a miscalibrated
warning system on it and did not contact the owners of those
planes," Dean Brett told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Monday.
"Our goal is to have the 208B decertified from flying in icing
conditions."
According to the lawsuits, a Cessna training and engineering
representative said in a deposition hearing he fabricated some
flight-training data regarding aircraft operations "out of thin
air"
As ANN reported, the loaned
Caravan (photo of accident aircraft below) departed Star, ID the
night of October 7, for a flight to Shelton, WA. The plane was nine
carrying skydivers who had participated in a weekend skydiving meet
in Idaho, and one pilot.
The aircraft departed from Star in night VMC, but investigators
with the National Transportation Safety Board noted low clouds and
potential icing conditions prevailed at the accident site. No IFR
flight plan had been filed.
The Caravan's performance in icing conditions has come under
fire before. In January 2006, the NTSB
urgently recommended the FAA prohibit operation of Caravans in
conditions more severe than light icing, and that pilots maintain
at least 120 knots airspeed when encountering icing conditions of
any kind in the C208 series.
The Caravan is fully certified for FIKI operations... but Dennis
Craig, who lost his son Casey in the White Pass crash, alleges
Cessna "faked the data to get the plane certified to fly in icing
conditions," and claims data uncovered during the discovery process
in pretrial proceedings backs that up.
Cessna spokesman Doug Oliver told the P-I it is company policy
not to comment on pending litigation. Following the October
accident, Oliver told the paper the company thinks the issue
regarding the Caravan's performance in icing conditions comes down
to pilot education, and not a specific fault with the aircraft.
Certified in 1984, the Caravan family of single-engine
turboprops has proved immensely popular for the Wichita, KS-based
planemaker, with sales close to 1,700 planes. The aircraft is
particularly popular with cargo haulers -- including FedEx feeder
services -- though in recent years has also seen rising popularity
with passenger-carrying operations.