FAA SEEKS CAUSE OF CAPE CENTRAL CRASH

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board Friday were investigating the fatal crash of a Cape Central Airways airplane at Kansas City International Airport.

FAA spokesperson Sandra Campbell said the investigation involves the pilot's concern about ice buildup on the plane and other possible reason for Thursday night's crash.

The pilot, Bonita Connors, 36, of Sedalia, died Friday night, a day after crashing the small plane short of a runway at KC-I.

Connors was pronounced dead at 5:30 p.m. at North Kansas City Hospital, nursing supervisor Cathy Rentfro said.

Connors, of Sedalia, was flying United Parcel Service packages from Sedalia to KC-I when she radioed the control tower, saying she was concerned about icing on her plane, said Campbell.

The crash occurred about 1,000 feet short of a runway in a southwest corner of the airport.

Cape Central Airways, which is owned by Mark Spatz of Cape Girardeau, is still awaiting a ruling by the FAA legal department following an investigation of alleged safety violations at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport last March.

Cape Central Airways was cleared by the FAA office in Atlanta of another allegation of safety violations made last April.

Attempts Friday by the Southeast Missourian and Associated Press to reach Spatz or anyone else at Cape Central Airways were unsuccessful.

Spatz operates his charter company from his home in Cape Girardeau. However, he has planes at airports outside of Cape Girardeau, including Sedalia.

For about three years, he ran the fixed-base operation at the Cape Girardeau airport. On Sept. 29, Spatz sold most of his aircraft and assets to Air Evac, the new fixed-base operator at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. He then applied for an amended 135 certificate, which is needed for charter operations that switch business addresses.

"Right now the investigation has to do with the plane crash," Campbell said. "Whether any other investigation of Cape Central Airways will be tied into the crash remains to be seen. Right now all of the attention is being placed on what happened Thursday night."

In March, an allegation made to the FAA said Cape Central Airways attempted to launch airplanes despite the fact that the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport was closed due to heavy accumulation of snow. Another complaint, which was filed April 23, involved a charter plane that was forced to make an emergency landing on a military reservation in Fort Knox, Ky. The complaint said the plane ran out of fuel while in the air.

The FAA southern regional office in Atlanta was satisfied with statements made by Mark Seesing, the pilot of the plane, and ended its investigation with no penalty to the company.

Drizzle and freezing temperatures may have caused ice to form on the wings of the plane piloted by Connors Thursday night.

The plane was carrying 82 United Parcel Service packages from Sedalia to Kansas City. All but five of the packages were recovered and released for delivery by the FAA.

The plane was under contract with UPS but was not a UPS aircraft.

The twin-engine aircraft was flying at about 4,000 feet. some 8 miles from the airport when the pilot told the KC-I control tower she was concerned about ice buildup, a condition known as icing.

The controllers cleared the aircraft for an instrument landing approach to the runway.

The pilot had no additional contact with the tower, Campbell said.

At the time of the crash the temperature at KC-I was 32 degrees and visibility was 3 miles with light drizzle and fog.

Campbell said other pilots approaching KC-International notified the tower that they were also noticing ice buildup on their wings.

"Icing is caused when moisture freezes and sticks to a plane's wings," Campbell said. "It causes the aircraft not to have sufficient lift. Normally, icing occurs on the wings."