Plane Went Down Monday On Approach In Heavy Fog

A Cessna 182 with two members of the Civil Air Patrol on board went down Monday night while on approach to Mobile Regional Airport. Both were fatally injured.

Television station WALA reports that the NTSB said in a briefing Wednesday that visibility was low Monday night due to fog, which also caused problems for first responders.

The CAP has identified the two on board as 2nd Lt. Phil J. Dryden of Gulf Shores, and Maj. David R. Mauritson of Fairhope. The two were returning from a humanitarian mission in which they transported an individual from Mobile to Baton Rouge, LA for medical treatment. The ELT on board the Cessna activated at approximately 2000 local time, which led the CAP and first responders to the accident scene.

The plane went down in an area described as wooded and swampy about a mile from the airport. There was a post-impact fire. 

Pilots perform compassion flights as a public or charitable service, often to transport patients or their family members to or from treatment in cases where ground travel would be too painful or difficult or when expediency is required.

The pilot bears the expense of the fuel, maintenance and related costs for such flights.

Mauritson flew as a volunteer pilot for Mercy Flight Southeast, based in Leesville, Florida, and for SouthWings, an aviation-oriented conservation group. He was chairman of the Awards Committee of the Flying Physicians Association, previously served as its president and received the group’s Distinguished Service award in 2004. A lawyer as well as a physician, he also belonged to the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association. He was a Certified Flight Instructor with 50 years of flying experience.

After joining CAP on Nov. 3, Dryden gained certification in emergency services and trained as a mission scanner. He served as the Mobile squadron’s assistant operations officer.

(Images from CAP Facebook page. Information from CAP news release, other sources as cited)

FMI: www.gocivilairpatrol.com