Warbird Information Exchange

I'm a bit surprised to see nothing noted here yet on this forum about the crash of N888GG in the mountains of western Montana nearly 2 weeks ago. It was a "warbird" and a unique and special aircraft in its own right and its pilot too, Michael Blume, 62, of Burnsville, MN, was lost and deserves some recognition.

N888GG was a Grumman G-21A Goose (s/n B-70) that was built in July 1944 for the US Navy as a model JRF-5, Bu. no. 37817, but it apparently spent most of its early, pre-civilian service, with the RCAF in Canada as serial no. 390.

After that, it became CF-ETJ with Queen Charlotte Airlines '53-'54, with Canadian Forest Products '55, BNP Airways, West Coast Transport '56-'58, Canadian Forest Products '76-'82, Air Pac Anchorage AK as N2889J in 1982 or so. I guess there is a gap in my records for it there from 1958 to 1976.

It was sold to Ronald J. Rivett, co-founder of the Super 8 Motel chain, in Aberdeen, SD on Dec. 4, 1987. While Mr. Rivett owned it, it is noteworthy that this Goose was modified to become one of the very few of its type to be equipped with a hydraulic system for powering its flaps and landing gear. I know of only 2 others to have completed such a mod, and 1 that may be in progress now.

In May 2013, it was sold to Paul Ehlen of MN (who also owns a P-51 Mustang) but it was registered to an address in Hamilton, MT, which seems to be a summer or vacation home of the Ehlen family. That is where it was headed, being ferried by a pilot hired by the owner, when it crashed.

NTSB Identification: WPR14FA231
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, June 17, 2014 in Sula, MT
Aircraft: GRUMMAN G-21A
Registration: N888GG
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this accident report.

On June 17, 2014 about 1700 mountain daylight time, a Grumman G-21A airplane, N888GG, (c/n B-70) was destroyed by impact with terrain and a postcrash fire in the parking lot of the Lost Trail Powder Mountain Ski Area, about 13 miles south of Sula, Montana. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country positioning flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulation Part 91. Instrument meteorological conditions (IFR) were reported in the area at the time of the accident, and the solo pilot received fatal injuries. The airplane departed Lemhi County Airport (KSMN), Salmon, Idaho, bound for Ravalli County Airport, Hamilton, Montana, about 1640.

During an interview with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on June 18, the owner of the airplane said that the airplane was being repositioned to the Ravalli County Airport for the summer. The airplane arrived at the Dillon Airport (KDLN), Dillon Montana on Monday, June 16, but was unable to continue to Hamilton due to weather. The owner said the pilot was told to remain in Dillon until the weather cleared. The pilot told the owner that he might fly to Salmon the following morning and check the weather along the highway to Hamilton. The owner asked the pilot to telephone him before he departed. The owner said he did not receive a telephone call from the pilot.

During a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC on June 18, a witness at the Dillon Airport said he had spoken with the pilot after he arrived in Dillon. They talked about weather and routes. The witness said the following morning the airplane departed about 0830, but returned a short time later due to weather. He said the airplane remained in Dillon the rest of the day, and about 1630 the pilot said he'd probably be back in 30 minutes, and departed. The witness did not see the airplane again.

A Ravalli County Sheriff's representative told the IIC that he had spoken to a witness at the Lemhi County Airport who told him the airplane had stopped there, before departing northbound along highway 93 toward Hamilton.

A witness living along highway 93, about the 4,000 foot elevation level, said he had seen the airplane northbound headed toward the mountain pass in the direction of Hamilton. The witness is a pilot and said he had flown the route many times. He said although the airplane was in VFR conditions, and appeared to be at an altitude of about 6,500 feet when he saw it; the pass is higher, and appeared to be obscured. He further stated he could see what he thought was a thunderstorm developing to the west and moving east toward the pass.
The highway 93 mountain pass is just over 7,000 feet in elevation. Located at the summit are a visitor center and the base of operations for a ski area; including a lodge and parking lot.

An employee at the visitor center told the Sheriff's representative that the airplane arrived over her position at a very low altitude, just above the trees, and that it was snowing, and the visibility was about ¼ mile at the time. She said she saw the airplane "spin around" 6 to 7 times descending vertically before it impacted the ground in the parking lot of the ski area.

Upon impact, the airplane burst into flames, initial responders were not able to approach the wreckage due to the intense heat and flame.

On June 18, the airplane was examined at the accident site by the NTSB IIC, accompanied by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air safety inspector. The investigation is continuing.

_________________
“To invent the airplane is nothing. To build one is something. But to fly is everything!” - Otto Lilienthal

Natasha: "You got plan, darling?"
Boris: "I always got plan. They don't ever work, but I always got one!"

Remember, any dummy can be a dumb-ass...
In order to be a smart-ass, you first have to be "smart"
and to be a wise-ass, you actually have to be "wise"

And here's some of the media coverage of the crash:

http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/lost-trail-plane-crash/article_41ff7426-f779-11e3-9855-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true

Lost Trail plane crash

CAUSE STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION; PILOT WAS FERRYING AIRCRAFT FROM MINNESOTA TO MONTANA

June 19, 2014 6:00 am

By PERRY BACKUS Ravalli Republic

LOST TRAIL PASS — Scott and Sadie Grasser will never forget the sound an airplane makes when it crashes.

“It’s a very distinct noise,” Scott Grasser said Wednesday. “When you hear an airplane crash, you know exactly what’s happened.”

The couple had just finished hosting a woody biomass workshop at the lodge at Lost Trail Ski Area late Tuesday afternoon when they heard the sound of airplane coming in way too close to their building.

“And then there was this big crash and vibration,” Grasser said.

The couple ran outside and met one of their longtime employees running the opposite direction.

Aaron Hoffman of Salmon, Idaho, was in his car and just getting ready to pull out of the parking lot when 50 feet away the antique Grumman G-21 Goose amphibious aircraft literally fell from the sky and burst into flames when it hit the ground.

“It fell out of the sky right next to his car,” Grasser said. “By the time we got outside, there was literally nothing we could do. It was a huge ball of flame.”

Another witness told Ravalli County Undersheriff Steve Holton the plane barely cleared the trees right behind the shop.

“When she first saw the plane, it was coming from the south,” Holton said. “It cleared the trees by just a few feet. She said it was spinning.”

As bad as the accident was, Grasser said it could have been much worse.

There were 60 people at the workshop through the Idaho governor’s Office of Energy and Sustainable Northwest.

Hoffman was the last to leave.

“I believe there were cars parked right in the spot where the plane crashed,” Grasser said. “People had only left 15 minutes to a half hour earlier. We were just very fortunate.”

“We believe that pilot did everything he could,” Grasser said. “I’m sure he knew he was in a horrible spot. He did what every honorable pilot would do and tried to save as many people as he could.”

“We are obviously very shook up over this,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the pilot’s family.”

Continuous flames

Seattle tourists Rick McGee and Julie Gomez had just reached the intersection of Highways 43 and 93 at Lost Trail Pass when the plane crashed.

“It had started to snow very hard when we saw the rest area,” McGee said. “We pulled in at the rest area and the lady at the info center was coming out. We could hear the plane, and she was pointing and circling her arm — she said, ‘It’s spinning, it’s spinning!’”

McGee and Gomez didn’t see the plane fall, but they did see the fireball as it exploded on impact behind the information building. There were several smaller explosions and pops after the initial blast.

“I’ve seen planes crash before, but I’ve never seen a plane go up so fast — so quick,” Gomez said. “It was continuous flames for four or five minutes.”

After learning that law enforcement and fire crews were on the way, McGee and Gomez resumed their road trip toward Missoula. They said the weather had been switching from rain to heavy snow to blue sky most of the day.

Searching for clues

The aircraft started its journey in Florida. Holton said the pilot took over in Minnesota and was shuttling it to Montana when the crash occurred.

Holton said the man’s wallet and identification were found in the burned wreckage.

The pilot’s name is being withheld pending confirmation of his identification and notification of the family.

The Hamilton Volunteer Fire Department was scheduled to arrive on scene Wednesday afternoon to gather the remains.

National Transportation Safety Board air safety investigator Larry Lewis and Jeffrey Simmons, an investigator from the Federal Aviation Administration, were on site early Wednesday afternoon to begin determining the cause of the crash.

The burned-out structure was still emitting puffs of smoke as the men started to look over the scene.

Lewis said the airplane appeared to come straight down into the ground and there was no evidence that the pilot planned to land.

The landing gear was not deployed and the flaps were up.

“The aircraft wasn’t in landing configuration,” Lewis said.

Over the next few days, Lewis said, he will talk with witnesses of the crash, look at maintenance records and the pilot’s background, and interview people at airports the pilot used to search for clues on the probable cause of the accident.

Lewis expected it would take between six months and a year before the final accident report was complete.

Lewis said the aircraft was an antique.

“It’s old school,” he said. “It was probably built in the late 1930s or early 40s. There’s not a lot of them left.”

Missoulian reporter Rob Chaney contributed to this story.

_________________
“To invent the airplane is nothing. To build one is something. But to fly is everything!” - Otto Lilienthal

Natasha: "You got plan, darling?"
Boris: "I always got plan. They don't ever work, but I always got one!"

Remember, any dummy can be a dumb-ass...
In order to be a smart-ass, you first have to be "smart"
and to be a wise-ass, you actually have to be "wise"

Sad to hear about the pilot loss.

IMO....I think anyone who did know about it earlier maybe a bit gun shy about being the first to mention it on this website for fear of being ridiculed, mocked or called disrespectful??

It was mentioned the next day on the UK forum....they never seem to be shy about reporting mishaps. The kids there try to beat CNN...
I did a search at the time and found the link above (who is Helen?)?

Odd crash photos, it looked like it just fell, no debris trail I can see. In fact, it almost looks like it burned on the ground the wreckage is so concentrated.

I'll have to as a Goose owning friend his opinion...

Condolences to all concerned.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

+1

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Always looking for WW2 Half-Tracks and Parts.

I saw the news items about it that day and I figured our resident Grumman expert would want to post about it first, so I didn't.

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Excellent post Rajay.

All Goose aircraft are so historic, each one is a special bird.
A true shame.

The "first alert" utility of the Wix is now evidently a thing of the past...

Is that a good thing? The most difficult thing for many to understand
Is the distinction between the things that should and should not be said.

Growing up at an airport is a HUGE education for this. While every poster could theoretically
Post correct and sensitive information in a correct and "understated" way perhaps...the changing nature
Of the internet makes this unsuitable in my opinion.

The FAA and NTSB are informational media research organizations now.
Their ability to mine information from our posts will get too many good people
Into issues they don't need to be dealing with at difficult times.
The future should be like the past...word of mouth and only sharing with known friends and contacts.

The usefulness of wix is in researching and sharing information in regards to preservation
And historical interest. The pilot lounge area and discussions about should be theirs, and theirs alone.

I missed this one all together, and yes, I imagine after the Tobul Corsair accident, many have avoided posting. Thanks for posting this Rajay, bummer it took so long.

_________________
Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/


We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with reporting an accident here on WIX or anywhere for that matter and I personally see no need for anyone to be gun shy, afraid of being ridiculed or what-have-you. As long as you have your facts straight, your information is not here say, your not speculating nonsense and you are capable of compassion and consideration for those who really matter. Go ahead and post away.

It's pretty simple really, just takes a bit of common sense.

FWIW there are several of us Wixers who are licensed pilots of various different degrees and although many accidents are obviously very tragic, there is indeed lessons to be learned, procedures to be studied and safety techniques that become valuable tools for those who wish to learn to be better prepared for a wide range of events. As long as one does not lose sight of the 'who's involved in these tragic events, the 'why's become even more valuable.

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Zero Surprise!!...

I hope to goodness we can get back to reporting incidents and accidents here, speculation or no speculation - I know how to ignore BS real good. We all know how atrociously aviation incidents are reported, generally, so it's a huge service to be able to get an intelligently told story here. Heck, it's a big part of why I try to check in on WIX most days.

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Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas

PIC, Ford 6600 pulling Rhino batwing up and down the runway

Please be careful how you write the title, include date.

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GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

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Daviemax
Researcher of Post-War B-17 History
Maintains database of B-17s used from 46- on.

Max Haynes did a photo shoot this spring with the Goose. Photos here:

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/Max ... 898&type=1

Still no mention on the WIX of the nose gear failure P2V T-48 had on landing a couple of weeks back either.

+2 and the mods should do something about it but no, everyone gets called names and gets away with it.

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Shop the Airplane Bunker At
www.warbirdbunker.com

Condolences to family and friends.

This type of news always sucks.

Andy Scott