WESTMINSTER : Overloading Blamed for Plane Crash

A Westminster man who died in a plane crash Saturday was trying to take off in an overloaded airplane and with too much weight in the rear, a National Transportation and Safety Board investigator said Tuesday.

Witnesses at the Swansboro Airport, near Placerville, said the plane’s nose was higher than normal during taxi and takeoff, said air safety inspector Thomas H. Wilcox, who examined the crash site. The plane used more runway than usual to get aloft, witnesses said.

The plane climbed, turned and crashed into trees just past the airport, killing the pilot, Darrell D. Thom, 34, a Huntington Beach pharmacist who lived in Westminster.

The single-engine, four-passenger Piper Warrior II was carrying five people and 182 pounds more than the maximum weight recommended by the manufacturer, Wilcox said. The airplane’s manual warns about overloading the aircraft and discusses takeoff, climbing and handling problems when improperly loaded, he said.

The four passengers injured in the crash included Thom’s brother, Randy, 31, of Minneapolis; their cousin, Doug Ostercamp, 30, of Swansboro; Ostercamp’s 5-year-old son, Doug Jr.; and a family friend, Marshall Racine, 37.

The crash was the 401st investigated by the southwest regional office of the NTSB since its reporting year began last October. In an a average year, the office investigates about 330 crashes, Wilcox said.

An official ruling on the cause of the crash will be made after the report goes to the board, Wilcox said.