Portland Crash Claimed Three, Including 12-Year-Old Boy

Almost one year after the fatal downing of a Lancair IV Propjet in a southwest Portland, OR neighborhood, the National Transportation Safety Board admitted last week investigators may never know what caused the aircraft to crash in IFR conditions.

As ANN reported, the aircraft departed Portland-Hillsboro Airport at 0854 the morning of June 15, 2007 bound for Twin Falls, ID on an instrument flight plan. The accident claimed the lives of pilot William Shepard, his wife Jeannine, and their 12-year-old grandson Benjamin.

The couple was taking their grandson to a space camp in Kansas when the accident occurred, reports The Oregonian. Witnesses saw the plane emerge from clouds in a nose-down attitude, at a high rate of speed, prior to impact. "The witness estimated his distance from the impact site at 200 yards and reported the weather was "low clouds, marginal visibility and light rain," the NTSB added.

Stating the severity of impact damage precluded determining whether the aircraft suffered a loss of control, or other mechanical or systems failure, the NTSB said there were no other clues as to why the plane crashed.

"(T)he engine and propeller were buried about 3 feet deep in an impact crater," the report said. "A debris field extended at least 25 to 60 feet beyond the impact point in all directions. No evidence of an in-flight breakup was found. All observed aircraft components had sustained severe impact damage. ... All cockpit instruments and avionics were destroyed. Examination of the wreckage revealed no obvious indications of mechanical malfunction or failure."

The NTSB added no evidence of narcotics were found in the pilot's system, and Shepard had nearly 1,400 hours in the accident plane... including 158 hours filed IFR. Shepard had also passed an IFR recurrency exam and flight review five months prior to the crash.

FMI: Read The Probable Cause Report