PC-12 That Crashed On June 7th Broke Up While It Was Diverting Because Of a Bad Weather
Washington, DC - A preliminary report on the June 7th PC-12 Pilatus
crash near Lake Wales, FL indicates the plane broke up after the pilot changed course to avoid bad weather.
The preliminary NTSB report said an observer witnessed the airplane in a spin. One witness said the plane already was missing some of its parts. Another who was about a half-mile from the crash site reported hearing a boom. He also saw “black smoke trailing the airplane which was spinning," the report said.
Minutes before the crash the ATC controllers at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center advised the pilot of a large area of a heavy precipitation northwest of Lakeland and suggested he should change course until he got north of the adverse weather. The pilot agreed and the controller cleared him on a new heading. There was no further communication between the pilot and the Miami center.
Radar data indicated the airplane climbed from 24,700 feet to 25,100 feet and maintained that altitude for 12 seconds while changing direction. The aircraft then descended to 24,200 feet, turned right, descended to 22,500 feet and continued the right turn. In the next 36 seconds, the aircraft descended from 22,500 feet to 10,700 feet. The pilot of a nearby airplane reported hearing a Mayday call about one minute before hearing the sound of an emergency locator transmitter signal.
