"No Evidence Why Engine Stalled"

Manslaughter charges against an Oklahoma man who crashed a Bellanca Viking into Oklahoma's Grand Lake last year, killing three people, were dropped Wednesday.

District Judge Robert Haney wrote in a three-page ruling, 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."

Thomas Brent Caldwell, 30, was charged in Delaware County Court 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.

As ANN reported, Caldwell was flying with three passengers December 16, 2006 when the aircraft went down in Grand Lake, east of Tulsa, OK. Police say Caldwell was intoxicated when they found him, and that he does not possess a valid pilot license.

Witnesses say the Bellanca's propeller was not spinning when the plane went into the water. In its Preliminary Report, the NTSB reports it was unable to find any mechanical issues with the plane's engine.

District Attorney Eddie Wyant told the Joplin Globe he planned to appeal.

"The Court of Criminal Appeals can make the final decision on whether the case should proceed or not," Wyant said. "We still feel strongly according to law he (Caldwell) should be prosecuted.

FMI: Read The NTSB Preliminary Report