Feds begin investigation of crash that killed two during snowstorm

A federal aviation investigator arrived in Lincoln County Friday to search for clues that might explain what caused a plane carrying two people to crash into Swede Mountain in the early morning hours Wednesday. 

The investigator will spend 3-4 days gathering information from the accident scene and then report back to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is in charge of the investigation. 

A preliminary report will be available to the public in about 10 days, but it will take considerably longer to complete the investigation because the plane crash involved fatalities. 

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department found the remains of the pilot, Carl Douglas, 54, and his passenger, John Smith, 43, near Williams Gulch after launching a search-and-rescue mission that included several local agencies. 

Peter Knutdson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said a crash expert will investigate three different elements of the accident: the man, the machine and the environment. 

“The investigator will go to the scene and document it, gathering information for the investigation,” Knudson said. “But the on-scene portion is just the tip of the iceberg. They usually move the wreckage to a secure location for examination. The whole thing generally takes a few days. 

“After that, the investigator will propose probable causes to the board.”

What’s known so far, pieced together by local authorities and witnesses, is that Douglas’ turbo-prop plane left Coolidge, Ariz., at 8:30 Tuesday night and was scheduled to arrive in Libby around midnight. 

Douglas cancelled his flight plan at 11:30 as he approached Libby, which aviation experts said is an indication that Douglas felt comfortable with his situation and was preparing to land. It was snowing heavily in Libby at the time.

Several witnesses said the plane was flying at low altitude when it made several turns or circled the area just north of the airport just before midnight. Some witnesses explained that they thought the pilot was either lost or couldn’t see the airport.

“It was low. We heard it once and then heard it again later,” said Shannon Myslicki, who lives at the base of Swede Mountain. “It sounded like it was closer to Swede Mountain to the left, rather than the airport.”

One big question is whether the lights at the airport were on when Douglas was trying to locate the landing strip. Reports so far have conflicted.

Sheriff Roby Bowe said the airport lights were not on at the time of the crash. 

Mike Noble, who lives south of Libby Airport, said the airport lights were on when he drove home at midnight. 

Another witness, Libby Police Officer, Darren Short, provided a more detailed account that might explain the confusion. 

Short said Douglas’ plane circled tightly above Town Pump and headed south toward the airport. Short, thinking it odd that a plane would be arriving so late at night, drove to the airport and saw the beacon light rotating across the sky but no lights on the runway strip.

Douglas and Smith were reported missing the next morning after they failed to show up for a meeting at Stinger Welding, where Douglas was the CEO and Smith was an employee. Rescuers found the plane wreckage near the peak of Swede Mountain later that afternoon. 

It could take up to a year for the National Transportation Safety Board to conclude its investigation, Knudson said. 

The Federal Aviation Administration is assisting with the investigation. Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the agency, said Douglas’ pilot license and flight records would not be available until after Christmas.