Winds caused plane crash

The small plane that crashed at the remote Schafer Meadows Airstrip on June 23 was coming in for a landing when it caught a wind gust that led the craft to go past the end of the runway.

That's according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board and Dave Hoerner, director of operations at Red Eagle Aviation.

The Kalispell company was flying a contracted trip taking two men to Schafer in the Great Bear Wilderness to begin a raft trip down the upper Middle Fork of the Flathead River.

According to the report from the federal safety agency, the pilot was fighting a downward draft while coming in for a landing. The wind shifted to a tailwind, pushing the small Cessna down the runway. Then the wind suddenly stopped.

The plane hit the runway hard, bounced three times and went past the surface and into the trees, according to the report.

"Schafer's a windy son of a gun," Hoerner said.

A previous account of the crash came from the wife of one of the passengers. She said that the plane was going 90 mph and that her husband, Aaron Wamsley of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, was trapped in the plane and covered in gasoline. The other passenger was Arthur Pegg of Lexington, Kentucky.

That description of the crash has been disputed. Hoerner said the plane was near the ground and attempting to land just prior to the crash. It left the end of the runway, went down a steep embankment and hit the trees.

Hoerner was on the scene soon after the crash. Red Eagle's chief pilot, Tom Glanville, was at the controls.

Hoerner said Glanville is a "high-time" pilot with over 10,000 hours in the air.

"He's a highly qualified pilot," he said. "He's the guy you go to to ask questions."

Both Hoerner and Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said that they didn't detect an odor of aviation fuel at the scene. There were cases of beer and rafting gear throughout the cabin.

Alcohol was not a factor in the crash, however.

"There was no indication at all that this was the case," Curry said.

The plane was substantially damaged in the crash, but the fuselage remained intact. The plane wreckage and its contents have been removed from Schafer.

Wamsley, Pegg and Glanville were injured in the crash, although none were critical. They were taken from Schafer to Kalispell City Airport via the Two Bear Air helicopter. From there, they were taken to the hospital.

Hoerner said Red Eagle is continuing contract flights in other planes when possible.