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Deadly plane crash likely caused by bird strike
University officials report "clear evidence" that bird strike brought down UND airplane
Michael Thomas
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: News
After nearly six months of investigating the cause of a crash last October that took the lives of two UND students, there is, according to university officials, "clear evidence" that a bird strike involving two or more Canadian geese is to blame.
While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent governmental agency in charge of investigating aircraft related accidents, has not yet released an official, factual report as to the cause of the crash, evidence found at the crash site as well as information downloaded from onboard computers would suggest that the twin-engine Piper Seminole aircraft carrying Annette Klosterman and Adam Ostapenko crashed on Oct. 23, 2007 after coming into contact with the large birds.
"We have found clear evidence of a bird strike," said Dana Siewert, director of Aviation Safety at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. "We did find DNA on the left wing that is clear evidence of a [Canadian goose] bird strike."
He continued that a similar substance was found on the tail portion of the aircraft but that evidence had not been tested and therefore could not be determined conclusively that it was of the same nature.
According to Frank Argenziano, assistant director of Aviation Safety, investigators at the scene as well as in the aftermath found many signs in addition to the DNA evidence that would point to an unusual event occurring during the flight.
The stabilator which is located on the tail section of the airplane and controls the up and downward movement was "deflected 90 degrees upward at the crease-point; that would have affected the ability of the pilots to control the aircraft," Argenziano said. "In this particular case, what was looked at was how fast certain things changed in terms of altitude and airspeed. There was a rapid change on the performance of the aircraft in a matter of seconds … looking at the accident, it is highly unlikely that [the pilots] would have instigated a maneuver like that. If the tail deflects or bends like it did, then that would have had a major affect on the controllability of the aircraft."
While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent governmental agency in charge of investigating aircraft related accidents, has not yet released an official, factual report as to the cause of the crash, evidence found at the crash site as well as information downloaded from onboard computers would suggest that the twin-engine Piper Seminole aircraft carrying Annette Klosterman and Adam Ostapenko crashed on Oct. 23, 2007 after coming into contact with the large birds.
"We have found clear evidence of a bird strike," said Dana Siewert, director of Aviation Safety at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. "We did find DNA on the left wing that is clear evidence of a [Canadian goose] bird strike."
He continued that a similar substance was found on the tail portion of the aircraft but that evidence had not been tested and therefore could not be determined conclusively that it was of the same nature.
According to Frank Argenziano, assistant director of Aviation Safety, investigators at the scene as well as in the aftermath found many signs in addition to the DNA evidence that would point to an unusual event occurring during the flight.
The stabilator which is located on the tail section of the airplane and controls the up and downward movement was "deflected 90 degrees upward at the crease-point; that would have affected the ability of the pilots to control the aircraft," Argenziano said. "In this particular case, what was looked at was how fast certain things changed in terms of altitude and airspeed. There was a rapid change on the performance of the aircraft in a matter of seconds … looking at the accident, it is highly unlikely that [the pilots] would have instigated a maneuver like that. If the tail deflects or bends like it did, then that would have had a major affect on the controllability of the aircraft."
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 13
Kathleen
posted 4/15/08 @ 2:48 PM CST
It is very tragic that this bird strike ended in fatality. What's worse it that bird strikes are nearly impossible to prevent in the air, and it will likely happen again. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 4/15/08 @ 3:40 PM CST
"and then gets distored even more" You mean 'distorted'? Spell Checker only take 30 secs really. Nice article though. It's very sad, and the situation seems a little out of hand. (Continued…)
AMD
posted 4/15/08 @ 5:28 PM CST
Annette (Netters) was one of my best friends up here. After we heard about the crash, we all wondered what could have possibly happened to her. A bird strike was the farthest thing from anyone's mind. (Continued…)
Anon
posted 4/16/08 @ 4:02 AM CST
As macabre as it may seem, that's the way things are done in aviation. Every mistake, whether fatal or not, is picked apart to the nth degree, to glean what we can from it. (Continued…)
Roger D. Parish
posted 4/17/08 @ 7:12 AM CST
They are "Canada geese", NOT Canadian geese.
Dave
posted 4/17/08 @ 7:55 AM CST
As a professional pilot, I have encountered Canadian Geese inflight twice. Once in a turboprop, and the last in a business jet. I was lucky as both times it was on the right wing towards the tip. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 4/17/08 @ 10:25 AM CST
It looks like the author included his notes at the end of the article. Although informative, they detract from the readability of the article. Also, is that someone's phone number? You might want to remove that. (Continued…)
Gregory
posted 4/17/08 @ 11:58 AM CST
My name is Gregory Jackson. I am a student at the University of Cincinnati. I'm in the commercial pilot program here at UC an I want to send my condolences to the family and friends of the two students also wanted to say that I understand how these things can happen. (Continued…)
Bruce Liddel
posted 4/17/08 @ 1:35 PM CST
A few years ago, a friend of mine departed TOP in a Rockwell Commander after dark, having forgotten and left his landing lights on, saw something, rotated hard left 60+ degrees, and hit four Canada Geese. (Continued…)
T-Prop
posted 4/20/08 @ 2:21 AM CST
"Our society wishes to increase bird populations, yet all over the U.S. that increase is creating issues with society. When will people open their eyes. (Continued…)
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