NTSB Investigators Gathered Information From ATC Transcriptions

An air traffic controller told the pilot of a Cessna 150L to "go around" prior to an accident Saturday at Merrill Field (PAMR) in Anchorage, AK which fatally injured the two people on board the airplane.

NTSB investigator Joshua Cawthra told television station KTUU in Anchorage that an examination of audio recordings from ATC indicates that there was another airplane on rollout, and that the Cessna was too close to make a safe landing. While Cawthra said he had not yet talked to the controller, it is not uncommon for a "go around" order to be given in such a situation.

Cawthra said the pilot, Robert Lilly, held instrument, commercial and multi-engine ratings. He said the weather was clear, and that investigators had recovered a handheld GPS from the wreckage that may offer some insight as to the airplane's heading, altitude, air, and ground speeds prior to the accident. He said that representatives from Cessna and the FAA are conducting an investigation of the engine to determine if there was any problem with the powerplant on the airplane. A witness told the Anchorage Daily News that he "could just hear the engine kind of dying" as the airplane climbed away from the runway. The pilot attempted to return to the airport, but the witness said it lost altitude quickly and "plunged nose-first" into the ground.

The second person on board the airplane has been identified as Jessi Nelson.

(Cessna 150 pictured in file photo. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov