Commuter Plane Pilot Blamed for Crash That Killed 18 Aboard

Pilot error was blamed by federal officials Tuesday for the crash of a Northwest Airlink commuter plane near Hibbing, Minn., last December that killed all 18 aboard.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot’s decision to delay his descent to the airport at Hibbing--a decision apparently prompted by his desire to minimize flight time through icy clouds close to the ground--led to an “excessively steep” descent path as the plane neared the airfield.

The plane leveled off too late, slamming into a snow-covered mound of mining waste about a mile short of the runway, the NTSB said. The pilot, co-pilot and 16 passengers were all killed on impact.

Although icing conditions existed as the twin-engine turboprop approached the airport--and investigators said the plane, a British Aerospace Jetstream 31, may be especially susceptible to icing--ice was not a factor in the crash, the NTSB said in its final report.

Instead, the NTSB said, “the probable causes of this accident were the captain’s actions that led to a breakdown in crew coordination and the loss of altitude awareness by the flight crew during an unstabilized approach. . . . “

Marvin Falitz, the pilot, had failed semiannual proficiency tests three times in the last five years, although he passed them later after additional training, according to reports released three months ago by the NTSB.

Colleagues told NTSB investigators that Falitz was an angry man who deliberately jostled passengers to spite his employers and sometimes bullied his co-pilots, the reports said. He reportedly was in a bad mood the day of the crash because he was scheduled to fly the next day--his regular day off.

Officials from the FAA, Northwest Airlink and Express II, the company that had contracted to operate the plane for Northwest, were not available for comment Tuesday night.

The NTSB said Falitz and his co-pilot, Chad Erickson, took off from Minneapolis on the evening of Dec. 1 for the 200-mile flight north to Hibbing.

Among their 16 passengers were three Californians--Rochelle Thacker, 47, of Santa Ana, Tony Trujillo, 11, of Palmdale, and Theresa Hettinga, 59, of Modesto.