Investigation Continues Into Takeoff Stall/Spin Mishap

NTSB investigators have discovered the pilot of a Beechcraft Baron 55 involved in an April 18 accident during takeoff from the Adirondack Regional Airport in New York had two separate identities -- and wasn't properly rated to operate a twin-engine aircraft.

As ANN reported, airport officials and state police initially identified the pilot as Scott E. Thomas... but the NTSB report identifies the operator of the plane as Philip W. Cook. Both identities are linked to a single Saranac Lake address.

According to the NTSB report "membership cards, credit cards and medical consultations found in the wreckage, along with the pilot's website and friends, identified the name of the pilot as Thomas. However, there were no Federal Aviation Administration airman or medical records linked to that name."

But, under the second name, the report said "the pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with single engine land, and instrument-airplane ratings. He also held a flight instructor certificate, for airplane single engine, which expired on June 30, 1978. The pilot's latest FAA second class medical certificate was issued on November 20, 1981, and at the time, the pilot claimed 3,000 hours of flight experience."

Airport Manager Chris Kreig said he only knew the pilot by one identity, according to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

"I have only known him as Scott Thomas," he said.

Kreig said he'd only met Thomas a few times and the airport doesn't ask pilots for their licenses, nor does it check their medical records.

"It's not my responsibility to check," he said. "The onus is on the individual to make sure those things are up to date."

Three witnesses had very similar statements about what happened to the Baron that night.

According to the report, the airport manager stated that just when the airplane became airborne after taking off, "it made a "rather abrupt climb," and shortly thereafter, started an "abrupt left hand climbing turn." As the airplane "came up, the nose passed through the horizon, the nose dropped, the left wing dropped," and the airplane entered an "abrupt" dive. The airplane was in a bank angle in "excess of 90 degrees, left wing low" as it disappeared behind a tree line. The manager did not believe the airplane ever climbed above 500 feet."

A veteran line service technician reported the aircraft "attained a "nose-high configuration, and peaked at 300-400 feet." Once it peaked, it rolled to the left, "and sorta did a barrel roll." The witness then saw the top of the airplane as it descended "nose straight down" into some trees.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov