I was listening to the local NPR news up here in Minnesota, and they had a report on the ongoing investigation into the crash of Senator Wellstone.
It is believed that the main theory as to the cause of the crash is that the Eveleth VOR was sending erroneous signals. In subsequent testing by the FAA, they found that a few times, the VOR indicated an aircraft was at the Eveleth airport where in reality, the airport was actually up to two miles away. Since the crash, the Eveleth VOR has been shut down.
The belief is that the pilots were off course due to the malfunctioning VOR, and that they both started looking for the airport, which they believed was right under them. As they were both looking outside, neither was flying the plane, which they believe would account for why the plane crashed at 85 knots.
The news story said that investigators believe that the malfunctioning VOR along with the limited visibility in the weather and the inexperience of the pilots most likely was to blame for the crash.
Of course, the actual FAA findings are still several months away from being released.
It is believed that the main theory as to the cause of the crash is that the Eveleth VOR was sending erroneous signals. In subsequent testing by the FAA, they found that a few times, the VOR indicated an aircraft was at the Eveleth airport where in reality, the airport was actually up to two miles away. Since the crash, the Eveleth VOR has been shut down.
The belief is that the pilots were off course due to the malfunctioning VOR, and that they both started looking for the airport, which they believed was right under them. As they were both looking outside, neither was flying the plane, which they believe would account for why the plane crashed at 85 knots.
The news story said that investigators believe that the malfunctioning VOR along with the limited visibility in the weather and the inexperience of the pilots most likely was to blame for the crash.
Of course, the actual FAA findings are still several months away from being released.