Pilot warned of engine oil issue just before Addison plane crash that killed 10 people
The pilot of an airplane that crashed during takeoff at Addison Airport in 2019 was warned about an “oil issue” with one of the aircraft’s two turboprop engines the morning of the fiery tragedy that killed 10 people, according to NTSB documents.
The June 30, 2019 crash remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, which recently released 438 pages of documents related to the case. The Beechcraft King Air 350 rolled upside down and crashed into an airport hangar seconds after liftoff, killing the pilot, co-pilot and all eight passengers.
It was the worst aviation disaster in Dallas-Fort Worth in three decades.
The NTSB documents included a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder that was retrieved from the charred wreckage.
On the recording, pilot Howard Cassady, 71, of Fort Worth, can be heard talking with another, unidentified person about the engine on the left side of the plane, according to the transcript.
“Let’s see. Our mechanic says you have a (burn) issue with the number one engine,” the unidentified person in the conversation can be heard saying, according to the transcript. (The parenthesis in the quotation were in the transcript released by NTSB.)
Later in a report on the transcript, NTSB investigators further described the subject of the conversation as “an oil issue with the number one engine.”
The conversation began at 7:49 a.m., a little more than an hour before the ill-fated flight took off.
“We’re not seeing any excess blowing out, but uh, it’s something that you probably need to keep your eyes on, keep a log on, keep notes,” the voice continued, according to the transcript. “He’s been checking the plane out every time you guys go out.”
Pilots’ last words
The recording also reveals that, at 9:10 a.m., about six seconds after liftoff, the pilot uttered the phrase “What in the world?”
Then the co-pilot, Matthew Palmer, 28, also of Fort Worth, responded “You just lost your left engine,” according to the transcript. Another six seconds later, the co-pilot can be heard saying “Holy ----” and two seconds after that there is a sound of impact and the recording stops.
Passengers killed in the crash included Brian and Ornella Ellard, whose family owned a business that bought the plane earlier in 2019; their children Alice and Dylan Maritato; Steve and Gina Thelen; and John and Mary Titus.
No one on the ground was injured.
Witnesses at Addison Airport have reported that they thought it sounded like the aircraft was having engine trouble from the moment of takeoff.
The plane climbed about 100 feet into the air before rolling left and crashing into the hangar, which was unoccupied, in an inverted position.
Cassady had 16,450 hours of flight experience, according to NTSB records.
Palmer and his wife had just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary, according to Palmer’s wife’s Facebook page. Palmer was a ranch and arena hand at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
Palmer had 2,357 hours of overall flight experience — including 225 hours as pilot, and 615 hours as co-pilot, of a turboprop aircraft.
Families file lawsuit
Earlier this year, family members of two people killed in the crash filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the aircraft’s operators, EE Operations LLC, EE Realty, Inc. and S&H Aircraft LLC. The suit was filed in Dallas County.
Filing the suit were Palmer’s wife and parents, as well as the father of Ornella Ellard.
Four members of the Ellard family were killed, including Ornella Ellard, 45; husband Brian Ellard, 52; and children Alice Maritato, 15, and Dylan Maritato, 13.
Brian Ellard had connections with EE Operations LLC, which owned the aircraft, according to business records.
EE Operations has an address in the 4900 block of Keller Springs Road, which is blocks away from the airport. The same address is also registered to Ellard Family Holdings LLC, which Brian Ellard owned.
EE Operations’ address is also registered to NTA Life Management Inc., of which Brian Ellard was the president and chief executive officer, according to public records and Ellard’s LinkedIn account.
This report includes information from the Star-Telegram archives.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 5:59 PM.
