Overloading Probed in Crash of Boy’s Aircraft

The FAA questioned Wednesday whether the plane that crashed with 11-year-old Tony Aliengena and seven members of his round-the-world entourage was carrying two more passengers than allowed under federal aviation rules.

But two days after the aircraft that he had safely piloted for 14,000 miles crashed with his father behind the controls, young Tony’s quest to be the youngest pilot to circle the globe is scheduled to get off the ground again today in a new airplane, another Cessna Centurion that has been loaned to him.

An FAA spokesman in Anchorage said the agency is investigating why there were eight people in the six-seat airplane when it crashed Tuesday night. An FAA spokesman in Washington said that federal regulations require a seat and a seat belt for each passenger over 2 years old.

A charter pilot familiar with the primitive airstrip in the tiny Eskimo village of Golovin where the accident occurred raised another question. He said it appeared that Gary Aliengena, 39, mistakenly tried to take off with, instead of against, strong winds.

Aliengena, a real estate investor from San Juan Capistrano, had flown the single-engine aircraft to the coastal fishing village 90 miles east of Nome for a brief fishing trip. It was to be a respite from the seven-week itinerary that was 3,000 miles short of its planned conclusion.

Tony’s father said he was unaware of any mistakes during the takeoff and was uncertain about what had caused the crash. He said it was a “question” whether too many people were aboard the plane. He said that winds had been shifting at the time of takeoff.

He vowed that today Tony will resume “Friendship Flight ‘89,” which began June 5 and has taken the flying Aliengenas to seven nations. Aliengena said the trip is now scheduled to end Saturday at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

When the plane crashed Tuesday, one wing struck the ground, igniting the fuel inside the wing tank. All eight people aboard escaped without serious injury.

Paul Steucke, spokesman for the FAA in Anchorage, said Wednesday that crash investigators were being dispatched to Golovin.

Steucke said one area of investigation will be the number of passengers in the aircraft. A violation of the regulation that limits passengers to the number of available seats can result in as little as a warning or as much as a $1,000 fine and suspension or revocation of a pilot’s license, the Washington FAA spokesman said.

Those who did not have their own seats and seat belts aboard the plane were Tony’s sister Alaina, 10, who sat on her mother’s lap, and Tony’s Soviet pen pal, Roman Tcheremnykh, 11, who sat between the pilot’s and co-pilot’s seats.

The weather was windy with low clouds forming an 800-foot ceiling, Steucke said. He said there was apparently nothing in the weather to preclude a safe takeoff.

Mark Heinz of Golovin, a charter pilot who has flown in and out of the village for seven years, said persistent, strong crosswinds make the village’s 2,800-foot gravel runway one of the most treacherous on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula.

Heinz said it appeared that Aliengena had tried to take off in the wrong direction.

“I can’t imagine an experienced pilot doing that unless he is tired or in a hurry,” Heinz said.

Other Alaskan commercial pilots said Aliengena had reacted skillfully once the plane was blown from the runway. By applying full power and keeping the plane’s nose up, Aliengena prevented the plane from nosing into the marsh and flipping over in what could have been a fatal crash, they said.

After the crash Aliengena kicked at the ground, cursing and blaming himself.

Joseph Lee, 29, a member of a documentary crew accompanying the party, suffered a gash that doctors said could require about 15 stitches. The only other injury requiring treatment was a Times reporter’s bruised rib.

Tony, who had been in the co-pilot’s seat, received only a bump on the head.

A charter flight returned the party to Nome at about 1 a.m. Wednesday. Aliengena set about trying to find another aircraft to continue the trip, and one was volunteered by Ralph C. Mellon Jr. of Soldotna, Alaska.

The crashed plane, which belongs to Aliengena, remained at Golovin. Although heavily damaged, Aliengena said, the plane may be repairable.