KEYE-TV: Pierce Comments on Austin Air Crash
04/06/10According to a report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the pilot who flew his plane into the Internal Revenue Services building in February did so intentionally, based on evidence from his plane and the air traffic controllers.
The report details much of the technical information about the Piper PA-28 flown by Joe Stack into the side of the Echelon II building near Highway 183 on February 18.
Mark Pierce on KEYE-TV
“We can safely assume and the evidence supports it, that he had full power to take the airplane where he put it,” said Mark Pierce, a pilot, flight instructor and aviation attorney with Slack & Davis.
The report begins by saying Stack was cordial to control traffic workers so they wouldn’t be suspicious of him and stop his flight.
The most important detail of the report was that the plane’s flaps were down during its descent into the side of the building. Flaps are always lowered during takeoff and landing, meaning that this crash had less chance of being caused by a mechanical error.
The report also details the plane’s takeoff from the Georgetown Municipal Airport about 15 minutes before the crash. Communications between the air traffic controllers and the plane were normal, the report said. The plane proceeded southbound and climbed to an altitude of 4,800 feet, then at 9:54 a.m. the plane diverted its course to the west, and then at 9:57 it dropped to an altitude of 1,000 feet.
“He had a duty to maintain altitude above the ground,” said Pierce. But he didn’t, and dove nose first into the building a short time later.
The plane collided between the first and second floors of the Echelon building about a minute later. The plane was mostly destroyed on impact and by a fire that happened as a result of the crash, the report said. About half of the pieces of the wings and propeller were scattered inside the building; the other half fell outside.
“This airplane was a normal, routine flight from every perspective up until the point the pilot did something that nobody could have prevented,” Pierce said. “If he’s willing to die in the act, there’s nothing that air traffic control, another pilot, or those who observed on the ground, could do.”
“He violated laws along the way, but it’s like getting a traffic ticket on your way to commit a burglary. The offenses were minor compared to the outcome he intended,” Pierce added.
The NTSB also noted that weather conditions were almost perfect for flying; there was 10-mile visibility and a calm wind, which limited any chance the crash was caused by weather.
The NTSB said because the crash was intentional, it would be handing off the remainder of the investigation to the FBI.
Stack and an employee of the building, Vernon Hunter, were killed in the crash.
Link to story, with video, on KEYE Web site.
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