The investigation continues into the cause of last month’s crash of a de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Otter turboprop-conversion floatplane in Alaska that killed five, including former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), and left four others seriously injured, including former NASA administrator and current EADS North America chairman Sean O’Keefe and his teenage son.
According to NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman, one of the survivors told investigators he did not notice any strange engine noises before the accident. The single-engine Otter, owned by Alaskan telecommunications provider GCI, was carrying the party on a fishing trip from a wilderness lodge to a remote site when it crashed into the side of a mountain approximately 15 minutes after takeoff.
Hersman reported that in an interview, a survivor said the group decided to make the flight to the fishing camp during lunch, after a morning flight was cancelled due to inclement weather. Weather conditions in the area at the time of the accident included light rain, clouds and wind gusts, with visibility of about three miles.
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