MEC&F Expert Engineers : 08/12/17

Saturday, August 12, 2017

THE DEADLY ROADS: Speeding hit-and-run driver Aaron Ashlock of Kansas City, Kansas kills himself and two mothers (Sarah Galutia, 29, of Overland Park, and Ashley Gonzalez, 33, of Shawnee) and injures two children after collides head-on with their car in Edwardsville, Kansas



The speeding hit-and-run driver Aaron Ashlock of Kansas City, Kansas (left).  He will not do that again.




EDWARDSVILLE, Kan. - An alleged hit-and-run driver sped into oncoming lanes in Edwardsville, Kansas, Thursday night, causing a crash that took his own life and killed two others. Two children were also hurt in the crash.

The crash was around 9 p.m. on K-32, east of South 9th Street.

The Kansas Highway Patrol said it the incident began with a separate hit-and-run crash involving 42-year-old Aaron Ashlock of Kansas City, Kansas.

Officials said Ashlock drove off from the first crash, sped west down K-32, and eventually crossed over into the eastbound lanes where he hit an oncoming car.

Two adults in the oncoming vehicle died, and two children were hurt. Authorities have identified these victims as Sarah Galutia, 29, of Overland Park, and Ashley Gonzalez, 33, of Shawnee.

This reckless and criminal driver Ashlock also died in the crash, the KHP log confirmed.

The condition of the two children was not immediately available. 




==============


Driver in crash that killed two mothers was fleeing another wreck, officials say



By Mará Rose Williams

mdwilliams@kcstar.com

and Tony Rizzo

trizzo@kcstar.com

August 11, 2017 7:33 AM




A Kansas City, Kan., man was fleeing from one traffic crash when his car collided head-on with another car, killing two women and himself, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Family and friends of one of the two women killed in Thursday night’s crash in Edwardsville said Sarah A. Galutia was helping troubled people rebuild shattered lives.

“She was an awesome caregiver,” said Marie McCowan, who hired Galutia about two years ago to take care of mostly senior citizens in their homes for Griswold Home Care in Overland Park. “She had an amazing laugh and a smile. You were always just happy to see her come through the door.”


The Kansas Highway Patrol said Galutia, 29, was driving east on Kansas 32 at Interstate 435, when a car being driven west by Aaron A. Ashlock, 42, of Kansas City, Kan., crossed the center line and hit her car head-on.

Galutia and Ashlock were killed in the crash that occurred just before 9 p.m. Thursday.


Galutia’s roommate, 33-year-old Ashley D. Gonzalez, who was a passenger in the car, was also killed.

Gonzalez’s two daughters, 11 and 12, also were passengers in Galutia’s car. Both were injured and taken to a hospital. Their conditions were not available Friday morning.

McCowan said Galutia and Gonzalez shared a room at an Oxford House in Kansas City, Kan., where Galutia, a single mother of two boys, was a house manager in the evenings helping to counsel people living there who were struggling to rebuild broken lives.

Through tears, McCowan said that on Thursday night Galutia had picked up Gonzalez from work and Gonzalez’s children. Thursday night, McCowan said, was treat night and the four were heading to get ice cream when the collision occurred.

“The man who hit her took away a very important person to a lot of people,” said McCowan, who spent Friday contacting Galutia’s clients at Griswold to let them know about the wreck.

McCowan said Galutia, a graduate of Neosho County Community College, told her before leaving work on Thursday that she had planned to take her sons, Ryan, 7, and Jase, 3, to the movies on Friday.

The boys live in Ottawa with Galutia’s mother, Brenda Galutia.

“Sarah’s life was all about those little boys,” Galutia’s mother said. “She was working and loving her family and her life was cut short. I am just at a loss for words.”

According to the highway patrol, neither woman was wearing a seat belt. Gonzalez’s daughters were, according to the highway patrol.

It was not known if Ashlock was wearing a seat belt, according to the patrol reports.

The patrol said that just before the fatal crash, Ashlock drove away from another crash on K-32. There were no serious injuries reported in that wreck, which occurred about one-quarter of a mile from the scene of the fatal crash.

But members of his family on Friday said they hadn’t gotten all the details of what might have caused Ashlock to cross the center lane into oncoming traffic.

“We don’t know if he hit someone or if someone hit him, in that other wreck, or was he being chased, to make him do that, we just don’t know,” said Connie Wittkopp, Ashlock’s paternal aunt. “He was just not the kind of person to do that sort of thing - leave the scene,” Wittkopp said. “Aaron was a very caring man. The kind who would never meet a stranger. Good people.”

She said her nephew had two grown sons and had recently become a grandfather. He lived with his dad James P. Ashlock, Jr. and had worked in construction all his life. He had just gotten a new job, Wittkopp said. “He did get a chance to start it.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article166650522.html#storylink=cpy
 

ATF: The cause of a fire that demolished the under-construction complex East Bay developments in Oakland, California last month cannot be determined






Oakland, CA

The cause of a fire that demolished an under-construction complex in Oakland last month cannot be determined, federal investigators said Friday, leaving open the question at the center of a battle over development and displacement in the city.

Immediately after the July 7 blaze, speculation grew that an arsonist was out to burn East Bay developments with the goal of combating gentrification. The announcement Friday did little to relieve fears among developers, who have been working to enhance security measures at project sites.

“People were concerned, ‘Was this a pattern?’” said Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who represents the area that includes Auto Row, the site of the seven-story Alta Waverly mixed-use building on Valdez Street that was destroyed. “People are about mitigating risk. They wanted to know what would be the determination of the source of the fire.”



After four fires at construction site projects in Oakland and Emeryville over the last year â two of which have been deemed arson- several developers say they are concerned, but they wonât be stopped. Sam Singer, spokesman for Wood Partners, sai Media: KTVU

“While the investigation has reached a point where an ‘undetermined’ finding is appropriate, investigators will continue to consider any new evidence or information provided by witnesses or community members,” the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a statement.



Steve Carman, a private fire investigator in Grass Valley, said the conclusion of “undetermined” was typical. During his two decades working for the ATF, he said, about a third of his cases turned out that way.

Dead pilot Mark Stern, 63, committed pilot error by overcorrecting during a Cessna 172 Skyhawk plane stall causing a crash at Danbury Airport, CT









DANBURY, CT — A plane that crashed last week during takeoff from Danbury Airport lost altitude quickly and rolled to one side before crashing into a wooded area, according to a preliminary report released by federal investigators.

The report, released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board, said the plane, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk piloted by Redding resident Mark Stern, 63, was “assuming a nose-up attitude” before it rolled to the left and spun to the ground.


Stern, an experienced pilot, died of his injuries four days later. Two other passengers, whom authorities have yet to identify, also suffered serious injuries, the report said.

Sources have said weight could have been a factor in the crash, but an aviation expert who reviewed the preliminary results for Hearst Connecticut Media said weight is only one of several variables that could have caused the accident.

Matt Robinson, a former aviation accident investigator for the U.S. Navy, said the initial report could also point to a loss of power, cautioning more data would be needed to make a determination.

“One of the most common, insidious and deadly situations is a power interruption shortly after takeoff,” said Robinson, an aviation expert with Pennsylvania-based Robson Forensics.

The report said the plane had begun losing altitude while still over the runway and the pilot appeared to be trying to correct its course.

Robinson said the pilot might have pulled the nose up in an effort to maintain the plane’s air speed, but the aircraft might have stalled. In an aircraft, a stall occurs when the wings lose lift and can no longer support the plane.

“Any overcorrection or incorrect inputs leading to uncoordinated flight, combined with a stall, will result in a spin shortly after takeoff that you can’t recover from,” Robinson said.

Pilots are trained to recover from a stall, but the Cessna did not have enough altitude to perform the emergency procedure, Robinson said.

“Your best chance, if you’re at an altitude below 500 feet and you have a power interruption, is to make a forced landing,” Robinson said.

The NTSB report states the plane was full of fuel when it took off and its annual inspection was completed July 21, less than two weeks prior to the accident.

The report also confirmed the plane was rented from Arrow Aviation and that no flight plan was filed with the FAA. Stern had a license to operate both helicopters and single-engine aircraft and had logged about 582 hours of flight experience.

Stern’s obituary described him as “a lifetime student and teacher who continued exploring new fields of endeavor, including becoming an experienced aviator flying both helicopters and airplanes. His true passions were family, flying, and making a positive difference on those around him.”

Stern’s flying experience included time spent volunteering as a pilot with Eagle 1, a search-and-rescue helicopter operated by the Stratford Police Department, the obituary said.

Stern, an attorney with offices in Norwalk, also had served as a member of the Wilton Fire Commissioners, as a police officer in Culver City, Calif., and as a volunteer trooper for the Florida State Highway patrol.

Stern was licensed to practice law in Connecticut, New York, California and Florida.

A full report by the NTSB likely will take more than a year to complete.

Anthony J. Morasco, a flight instructor employed by Arrow Aviation, LLC was killed in a Cessna 172M Skyhawk plane crash; female student pilot was critically injured at Candlelight Farms Airport in CT













NEW MILFORD, CT -- A multi-town response has been called to a deadly plane crash on the New Milford/Sherman Line that happened before 10 a.m. at Candlelight Farms Airport.


New Milford police said a student pilot, a juvenile female, was trapped in the plane and was critically injured. Police said she was extricated from the plane and taken to Hartford Hospital.


Police said the co-pilot, a flight instructor employed by Arrow Aviation; Anthony J. Morasco, was killed in the crash. The third victim, Peter Jellen of New York, was seriously injured, but was able to walk out of the wreckage, police said.


Connecticut State Police were also called to the scene. A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board said an investigator would be on scene by Saturday morning to take over the investigation.


The FAA said that the plane that crashed is a Cessna C-172. The plane had departed from Danbury Municipal Airport and crashed at the end of Runway 17-35 at Candlelight Farms Airport.


The plane is owned by Arrow Aviation of Danbury, a flight school.


Arrow Aviation is the same company that owns the plane involved in the deadly plane crash in Danbury, July 30.



Arrow Aviation LLCV Located at Danbury Municipal Airport (DXR)
1 Wallingford Road
Danbury, CT 6810 USA 





Joan Sherwood
Tel: 203-744-5010
Fax: 203-744-1720
Senator Blumenthal issued a statement regarding the crash:



"My thoughts and prayers are with the victim's family and those injured in this tragic crash. I am alarmed by the number of small plane crashes that have claimed lives in recent months and years in Connecticut. I urge the NTSB to complete its investigation quickly and thoroughly so we can determine whether action may be warranted to strengthen safety measures for small aircraft."

=============



NEW MILFORD — At the end of the gravel driveway to Candlelight Farms Airport, Nic Marsicano anxiously awaited word on the fate of his best friend, Anthony “Duke” Morasco.

Marsicano had heard a small plane crashed Friday morning, and Duke likely was in it.

“How’s Duke doing?” he asked each passing emergency responder. “How’s Duke doing?”

“Nobody’s doing that well up there,” one man answered. The rest just drove past.

Marsicano soon learned Morasco — a flight instructor and his best friend of more than 30 years — had died in a crash that seriously injured two others.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane, a Cessna 172, departed Danbury Municipal Airport around 8:30 a.m. and crashed about an hour later in a grassy area a quarter-mile from the New Milford runway.

New Milford Police Sgt. Lee Grabner said the flight appeared to be a training flight. He said one of the victims, though badly disoriented, was able to walk several hundred yards to a nearby home to report the crash, and was eventually taken by ambulance to Danbury Hospital.

Police found two people still trapped inside the plane. The pilot, a woman who has yet to be identified, was extricated and airlifted to Hartford Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The other person was the flight instructor, Grabner said.

Police have yet to release any of the victims’ identities, saying family members are still being notified. But friends of Morasco said he was the man who died.

Marsicano, who had known Morasco since the two were students at Western Connecticut State University, said he was an experienced pilot who had flown for nearly four decades and had occasionally given flight lessons.

Marsicano, who had flown with Morasco many times, said his friend was a kind man and a “phenomenal pilot” whose “aspiration was to fly for a living.”

“He was one of those guys who would do anything for you,” Marsicano said. “I will miss him greatly every day.”

When Morasco wasn’t flying, he was a well-liked, hard-working maintenance worker for New Milford, said former Mayor Patricia Murphy.

“He was one of those people who could fix anything,” she said. “Just a very bright guy.”

Morasco worked for the town for two stints totaling about 15 years, Murphy added. He later worked for a rehabiliation center in town.

The plane’s registration number, obtained through photos of the crash scene, shows the plane is owned by Arrow Aviation, a Danbury flight-training school that owned a plane involved in a fatal crash nearly two weeks ago.

Mark Stern, of Redding, died from injuries he sustained after crashing a rented Cessna near Danbury Municipal Airport on July 30. Two passengers were injured in the crash, which is still under investigation by federal authorities.

Preliminary results of that investigation showed Stern’s plane began to lose altitude shortly after takeoff and crashed in a wooded area near the runway. The accident happened just two weeks after the plane had received its annual inspection.

A woman who answered the phone at Arrow Aviation on Friday declined to comment on either crash.

“We’re not able to talk about it,” she said.

The Cessna 172 is a single-engine four-seater and is one of the most popular aircraft in general aviation for flight instruction.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Friday he is concerned by the crashes.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the victim's family and those injured in this tragic crash,” Blumenthal said in a news release. “I am alarmed by the number of small plane crashes that have claimed lives in recent months and years in Connecticut.”



=========




Date: 11-AUG-2017
Time: ca 09:50
Type:
Cessna 172M Skyhawk
Owner/operator: Arrow Aviation
Registration: N1727V
C/n / msn: 17263727
Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities: 0
Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Category: Accident
Location: New Milford-Candlelight Farms Airport, CT (11N) - United States of America
Phase: Unknown
Nature: Unknown
Departure airport: Danbury Municipal Airport, CT
Destination airport: New Milford-Candlelight Farms Airport, CT (11N)
Investigating agency: NTSB


Narrative:
The plane crashed at the end of the runway under unknown circumstances. The co-pilot (the flight instructor) died. The female student pilot critically injured.

Sources:
http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Reported-plane-crash-in-New-Milford-11750399.php#photo-13676055
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=1727V


Last Action Date2014-11-11   
Airworthiness Date1974-08-22 Expiration Date2018-04-30
Manufacturer_NameCESSNA Model Name172M
 
Registrant NameARROW AVIATION LLC Street53 MIRY BROOK RD
Registrant CityDANBURY Registrant StateCT
Registrant Zip Code06810 CountryUNITED STATES
RegionNew England Registrant TypeCorporation
Fract Owner  Certificate Issue Date2001-09-10
StatusN-Number Assigned and Registered
 
Serial Number17263727 Aircraft TypeFixed wing single engine
Mode S Code50221774 Year Mfr1974
Aircraft CategoryLand Builder CertificationType Certificated
Number Engines1 Number Seats4
Aircraft WeightCLASS 1 Aircraft Cruising Speed108
Airworthiness ClassificationStandard Approved Operation CodesNormal, Utility
 
Engine ManufacturerLYCOMING 
Engine Model Name0-320 SERIES Engine Type4 Cycle
Engine Horsepower/Thrust0 Fuel Consumed0.00