Sudden wind shift likely cause of plane crash

Civil Aviation officials continue to conduct their investigation into Wednesday’s crash of a Tropic Air commuter plane. And while the injuries suffered by pilot Gerry Proehl and his thirteen passengers were relatively minor, airline veterans are saying that the results could have been much more serious. Like many of us, News 5’s Patrick Jones has been looking for answers…and what he’s found is that adverse weather appears to be the main factor in the mishap.

Patrick Jones, Reporting
Tropic Air?s flights in and out of the Municipal Airstrip continued on schedule today as the investigation into Wednesday?s plane crash picked up momentum. Shortly after take off around five fifteen yesterday evening, Tropic Air?s last flight out of Belize City, a Cessna Caravan, crashed into the sea a short distance from the runway with fourteen people on board. Investigators from the Department of Civil Aviation were today unable to gain access the fuselage as the wreckage remains submerged in shallow water. While arrangements are being made to lift it onto land, the biggest question to be answered is what caused the plane to go down? The weather is a likely contributor as a cold front was blowing in at about the same time the incident occurred. Experts at the Belize Weather Bureau say they began monitoring a weather system rolling in from the north from early in the evening.

Francisca Thompson, Forecaster, Meteorology Department
?At around five we were experiencing sever thunderstorms. This started from around Corozal and it grew. And it came down southward towards Belize City and this area. Now during thunderstorms, and yesterday it was not only thunderstorm, severe thunderstorm, we have what we call updraft and downdrafts; air moving up and down. Now the downdrafts, depending on the size of the cloud can be very powerful. This air comes out laterally and the wind speeds can increase up to thirty-five knots or more.?

And apparently that?s just what happened Wednesday evening. According to forecaster Francisca Thompson there was a dramatic change in conditions at the airstrip, which prompted a series of early warning bulletins to the control tower at the P.G.I.A. (Phillip Goldson International Airport), warnings which should have been communicated to pilots in the area.

Francisca Thompson
?From about around twenty past four yesterday evening we were issuing what we call special reports. And we do this whenever we have significant change in the weather. And this has to with wind speed and wind direction, present weather, for example we had thunderstorms yesterday. And at around twelve minutes past five we issued another [special report], and that was because the wind direction changed from southeast to north. And the wind speed went from five knots to twenty knots. We also had thunderstorm over the airport. So we send that out to the control tower.?

Whether the information from the weather bureau was relayed to the pilot of the plane that went down or not, is not known at this time. Thompson believes, however, that the weather was a factor in Wednesday?s crash.

Francisca Thompson
?Because at that time, I was told that there was a thunderstorm in Belize City and sure thing if we had gustiness up here, more than likely they were having gustiness down there. And usually, during this time planes should be grounded, especially the small planes because we have what we call cross winds and that can flip a plane. The plane is flying out this direction and you have a cross wind this way, it can easily flip a plane. Because usually a plane flies out into the direction of the wind to give it lift. If you have a wind coming cross ways it can cause the plane to flip.?

?Over the airport we have what we call lightening risk. We have lightning risk one two and three. Let me start from three. That is when the thunderstorm is a distance away from the airport. Lightning risk two is when we expect the thunderstorm to approach the airport. And lightning risk one is when the thunderstorm is over the airport. And during that time, all planes should be grounded and no planes should be fuelling at that time.?

While operations at the Municipal Airstrip are back to normal, officials from the Civil Aviation Department and Tropic Air have been questioning the passengers to gather information on what happened in the final moments of the flight. That information along with what is gained from looking at the plane?s instruments will help to give investigators a clearer picture of exactly what happened. Patrick Jones, for News 5.

Preliminary investigations by the Department of Civil Aviation indicate that Tropic Air’s Flight 2110 was carrying five hundred gallons of fuel in each tank, located on the wings. Officials say they believe that some of the fuel has leaked as a light slick was observed in the area and the odour of fuel was evident. Lead Investigator Brian Dominguez says based on interviews conducted since yesterday, passengers were able to get out of the plane, which did not immediately sink, by climbing through windows that shattered on impact and through the emergency exits located on each side of the front of the aircraft. The plane was carrying life vests, but indications are that the passengers did not have time to use them, as a boat in the area assisted in ferrying them to shore. As for the special bulletins issued by the Weather Bureau, Dominguez says being published so close to takeoff, it is unlikely that they were communicated to pilot Gerry Proehl as he taxied to the runway. Dominguez says that Proehl was aware of the approaching front that should have made land fall around take off time. The plane was scheduled to depart at five thirty, but the pilot left fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, a practice that is not unusual, since all his passengers were checked in. Dominguez says a preliminary report on the incident should be ready by early next week and the final report in about four months time. The Department of Civil Aviation is asking boaters to be careful when cruising the area and swimmers are being strongly urged to stay away from the scene of the incident.

In related news, the same cold front that buffeted the Municipal Airstrip also took a toll in the village of Crooked Tree. Rudy Crawford, who was coincidentally featured on our newscast last night, tells News 5 that as the bad weather descended on the village it spawned bolts of lightning, one of which made a direct hit on his resort, the Paradise Inn. The resulting fire totally destroyed one of his biggest buildings, containing two bedrooms.