Light Plane Pilot in Utah Crash Had Avoided Previous Collision

A pilot whose light plane collided with a commuter airliner, killing 10 people, had logged 38 hours flying the craft and had avoided hitting another plane five weeks before, officials said Saturday.

Federal investigators planned to interview pilots and relatives who may have flown with Chester Baker to determine his “approach to flying,” National Transportation Safety Board member John Lauber said.

Investigators refused to speculate on whether pilot error was responsible for the Thursday collision of the SkyWest commuter plane and Baker’s Mooney M-20, which killed all aboard both planes and pelted a residential neighborhood with debris and bodies.

A flight log recovered from the wreckage of the Mooney showed that Baker, 38, had 300 hours total flying time, including 38 hours in the craft he owned.

“Thirty-eight hours is a low amount of time but is consistent with being checked out on that aircraft,” Lauber said.

Virtually all of Baker’s experience was at Airport No. 2, 10 miles south of Salt Lake International Airport, Lauber said.

In early December, Baker had to dodge an oncoming plane landing on the wrong end of the runway at the smaller airport, Kendra Hunter, who witnessed the incident, said Saturday.

The unidentified pilot of the plane was from out of state and was unfamiliar with the field. He also was not on a radio frequency that would provide wind reports dictating the correct pattern, she said.

The two pilots saw each other just as they touched down, and Baker veered his four-seat Mooney to the side of the runway, coming within 25 to 35 feet of the other craft, airport base manager Ron Nelson said.

“Chester made an excellent maneuver around the aircraft and did everything right,” Nelson said.

The collision occurred as the SkyWest plane, en route from Pocatello, Ida., was banking into its final approach and Baker was practicing landings and takeoffs at Airport No. 2.