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NTSB: Equipment Failure, Pilot Fatigue Contributed To 2015 Plane Crash

NTSB
The site of the plane crash in a cornfield about 2 miles from the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington.

More than two years later, federal investigators say a combination of equipment problems, pilot fatigue, and bad weight and balance contributed to a plane crash that killed seven men in Bloomington.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its final report Tuesday in the April 7, 2015, crash that stunned the Bloomington-Normal and Illinois State University communities. Killed in the crash were ISU associate head men's basketball coach Torrey Ward and Deputy Director of Athletics Aaron Leetch; businessmen Andy Butler, Scott Bittner, Jason Jones, and Terry Stralow; and pilot Tom Hileman.

Their twin-engine airplane crashed as it tried to land at nearby Central Illinois Regional Airport following a quick trip to Indianapolis to watch an NCAA Tournament basketball game. Numerous people reported being awoken shortly after midnight by the sound of a low flying airplane over their residences.

The pilot lost control and the plane went into a stall and spin, the NTSB said.

“Contributing to the accident were pilot fatigue, the pilot's increased workload during the instrument approach resulting from the lack of glideslope guidance due to an inadequately connected/secured glideslope antenna cable, and the airplane being loaded aft of its balance limit,” the NTSB said.

A glideslope provides vertical guidance to a pilot as he or she descends toward a runway.

“The glideslope antenna was found disconnected from its associated cable circuit,” the NTSB report found. “Laboratory examination and testing determined that the glideslope antenna cable was likely inadequately connected/secured during the flight, which resulted in an unusable glideslope signal to the cockpit avionics. There was no history of recent maintenance on the glideslope antenna, and the reason for the inadequate connection could not be determined.”

The NTSB also looked at Hileman’s health and wellness.

“There was no evidence of cumulative sleep loss, acute sleep loss, or medical conditions that indicated poor sleep quality for the pilot,” the NTSB said, while also concluding that “continuous wakefulness likely led to the development of fatigue.”

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Ryan Denham is the digital content director for WGLT.
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