A pilot in the fatal plane crash that killed 14-year-old Edward “Teddy” Ebersol in 2004 was underqualified, according to an expert cited in a federal report, but the pilot’s family says he was highly experienced and blames the plane’s manufacturer for the tragedy that also claimed his life.
The pilot, Luis A. Polanco-Espiallat, had not flown enough in the 14 months prior to the Nov. 28, 2004, flight to meet the qualifications of Wyvern Standard LTD, a global aviation safety consultant, according to a letter included in roughly 180 documents released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The agency has not issued a finding on the cause of the crash, which it is still investigating.
“I wouldn’t put one of my family members on a plane that didn’t meet our qualifications,” said Walter D. Lamon, president of Wyvern. Lamon noted that his company holds pilots to a higher standard than the Federal Aviation Administration, and that Polanco-Espiallat may have met the agency’s standards.
Polanco-Espiallat, 50, and his co-pilot, Eric Wicksell, were part of a three-man Air Castle Corp. crew hired by Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports chairman, to fly his family from California to the East Coast, making stops in Colorado and Indiana.
Teddy Ebersol, Polanco-Espiallat and flight attendant Warren Richardson III were killed when the jet flipped onto its wing and slid across the runway during takeoff at the Montrose, Colo., airport. The plane caught on fire and eventually exploded. Wicksell and Dick Ebersol, rescued from the wreckage with several broken bones, were seriously injured. Charlie Ebersol, Teddy’s brother, had minor injuries.
The NTSB has said since last year that its investigators were toldthe plane was not de-iced before takeoff despite snowy and slushy conditions noted by several witnesses, including the Ebersols.
But, Polanco-Espiallat’s family says the same documents prove he performed all necessary pre-flight procedures, including de-icing checks. A transcript of the NTSB cockpit voice recorder retrieved from the crash shows that Polanco-Espiallat and Wicksell had a conversation about the plane’s wings and de-icing in the 20 minutes or so before takeoff.
“How do you see the wings?” Polanco-Espiallat asked at 9:42 a.m.
“Good,” Wicksell responded.
Then, about nine minutes later, as they ran through a pre-flight safety checklist, Wicksell asked about “wing anti-icing.”
“Check,” he said.
Polanco-Espiallat’s family also cited previous reports that the plane he was flying that day, the Canadair Challenger 600, was involved in a similar crash involving icy conditions in England. They also noted, in a statement through their New York attorney, Brian Alexander, that Polanco-Espiallat accumulated more than 10,000 hours of flight time in various jet craft over 30 years.
The family says Polanco-Espiallat and his crew had no idea the wings of his plane accumulated ice. Canadair, NTSB documents show, revised its flight manuals for the Challenger 600 in February 2005, two months after the crash, to require a tactile check of airplane wings in icy conditions. The NTSB also issued an advisory in the same month urging pilots to beware of ice accumulating on wings before takeoff.
While many of the documents released Thursday were highly technical, interview statements released Thursday provided a human lens into the harrowing crash. As the Ebersols waited for takeoff, Teddy Ebersol, seated on the left side of the plane, played a baseball video game.
Once the plane was 20 feet in the air, it dipped to the left and right, as if “bricks had been dropped” on the wings, Charlie Ebersol told an investigator. The engine noises were deafening.
The dips threw Charlie around the cabin, against the ceiling and floor.
The plane went left again, the left wing struck the runway and dragged a groove in the ground later estimated at approximately 1,400 feet long.
Teddy Ebersol’s body was found underneath the wreckage. The two others killed were found on the ground on the side of the plane.
