Pilot error blamed in plane crash

By HEIDI DESCH / Hungry Horse News

A plane crash last May near Marion has been deemed the result of pilot error.

The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the crash last week.

The Cessna 182 took off from Skydive Lost Prairie, circled back, approached too low and then went down 200 feet short of the runway.

Instructor Joel Atkinson, pilot Troy Norling, 28, of Onalaska, Wisc., instructor David Landeck, 25, of Missoula, Jennifer Sengpiel and Kyle Mills of Great Falls were all killed in the accident. Both instructors were scheduled to make a tandem jump with Sengpiel and Mills.

Atkinson is the son of Gail Linne and Jim Atkinson. He is also the grandson of Gladys Shay, a long-time Columbia Falls resident and Hungry Horse News columnist.

The report says that investigations revealed that the pilot failed to put the oil filler cap in place. After takeoff, oil splattered on the windshield.

"It is reasonable to expect that an amount of oil would have escaped the engine and blown back over the pilot's windscreen, thereby obstructing his vision," the report says.

The plane was also about 165 pounds over its maximum gross takeoff weight.

"The obstructed windscreen, coupled with the airplane's gross takeoff weight being exceeded, would most probably explain the pilot's loss of control while attempting to return to the runway," the report states.