Steve Heimel, APRN – Anchorage
The National Transportation Safety Board has begun a hearing this morning on the plane crash that took the life of Senator Ted Stevens and four others north of Dillingham last August. The plane flew into a mountain. The investigators call that “controlled flight into terrain.” The cloud cover situation can vary dramatically in that area, but a pilot and the local airport both reported at least two miles visibility. The pilot, Terry Smith, 62, was highly skilled and experienced. Smith had experienced a minor stroke in the past, but little impairment was noticed by anyone. One of the survivors of the crash characterized conditions as whiteout. Another said visibility was good.
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