Probe of Crash Cites Accounts of Airport Visibility

An air traffic controller told a pilot 10 minutes before he crashed in heavy fog at Van Nuys Airport last month that other pilots had reported relatively clear visibility, according to a preliminary report disclosed Monday by accident investigators.

Pilot Robert A. Olson died when his small cargo plane missed the approach to the runway, nosed into a taxiway 525 feet off target, then slid into a cluster of parked airplanes. The wreckage and the pilot’s body were discovered four hours later.

The preliminary report by National Transportation Safety Board investigators said that several people reported an erratic fog bank encroaching on the airport and that visibility varied “between near [zero] conditions and one mile.”

The report also noted that a radar controller in San Diego told Olson that two other planes at the airport indicated reasonably clear visibility minutes before the crash. The last message from the pilot to the controller was that he “has the airport in sight.”

A coroner’s spokesman said Monday that final results of an autopsy found no indication of drugs or alcohol, nor any medical reason to explain why the pilot was so far off course upon landing. The wreckage was not discovered for hours after the 1:19 a.m. crash on Nov. 14 because no one checked to verify if the pilot had landed safely and fog shrouded the accident scene, officials said.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has said that the pilot died on impact or within minutes of the crash.

The twin-engine Cessna 310, operated by AEX Air, a cargo express service based in Mesa, Ariz., was carrying 224 pounds of bank checks, investigators said. The 32-year-old pilot from Medford, Ore., departed North Las Vegas three minutes before midnight and was scheduled to land at Burbank Airport. “The weather conditions at Burbank deteriorated and the pilot diverted to Van Nuys,” the report found.

An airport police officer standing at the north end of the Van Nuys runway noted the plane’s arrival as it flew in overhead, but said it disappeared into the fog before he could see it touch down. The officer and others, including workers in a building near the crash site, said they did not see or hear the crash. Although fuel spilled from the wreckage, there was no fire.

The airport control tower, which oversees flights at the busy airport during the day, was closed at the time of the crash, as it is every night. Some residents and airport critics argue that the control tower should be staffed by the Federal Aviation Administration around the clock, even though a curfew limits nighttime operations to quieter aircraft.

Meantime, owners of the company operating the air cargo service said their investigation has determined that the pilot followed proper procedures and regulations during the ill-fated flight. “We have discovered no shortcomings on our part,” said Gale Webb, AEX president.