Report: Fog was a factor in deadly plane crash
Low visibility due to an early-morning fog was likely a critical factor in a June 30 plane crash near Curtiss that claimed the life of the pilot, according to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Killed in the crash was the 27-year-old pilot, Lamar M. Leinbach, Withee, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Department.
The crash, which occurred around 4:30 a.m. on June 30, happened after the National Weather Service in LaCrosse had issued a dense fog advisory for the area, according to the report. The fog was dense enough to reduce visibility to a half-mile or less, the report says.
The report also points to conditions on the ground to illustrate how foggy it was when the pilot was taking off from a private airstrip northwest of Curtiss.
“There were multiple reports by sheriff deputies that the early morning weather near the accident location included heavy fog with limited surface visibility,” the report states. “The visibility on the roadways near the accident location were 20 to 100 feet and required the use of windshield wipers while driving.”
The fog was so bad, a semi driver inadvertently left the roadway on STH 29 because he could not see the edge of the road, the report states.
At the Taylor County Airport, located about 10 miles northeast of the accident site, the weather at 4:35 a.m. included a calm surface wind, a quarter-mile surface visibility and a 500 foot vertical visibility due to the fog.
According to the report, the pilot did not have an instrument rating (training) for flight in meteorological conditions. He had logged three hours of simulated instrument flight before he took a required checkride for his private pilot license on March 14, 2020.
“The last recorded instrument time was accumulated during private pilot checkride,” the report states.
Leinbach was on his way to the New Richmond Regional Airport, located about 120 miles to the west, to meet with an individual interested in buying the airplane — an Earthstar Aircraft Gull 2000, classified as an experimental lightsport airplane.
The prospective buyer had agreed to meet with Leinbach at 6 a.m., though he initially suggested that they meet at noon instead. The individual believed Leinbach wanted to meet sooner because he needed to return to work afterwards, the report says.
A witness near the private airstrip said they saw the plane operating between 4:30 and 5 a.m. and could hear the engine as it departed, but there were no eyewitnesses to the crash itself.
The plane went down in a wooded area about a third of a mile southwest from the end of the airstrip. Damage to the trees suggests that the nose of the plane was tilted 30 degrees downward when it made impact, the report states.
“The airframe parachute rocket had deployed due to impact forces,” the report states. “The left wing had separated during impact. The right wing and tailboom remained attached to the fuselage.”
No signs of mechanical malfunction or failure were found during the investigation, but the aircraft was not equipped for instrument flight, the report states.
Further data may become available.
“The damaged components of an electronic engine monitor and an electronic artificial horizon device were retained for possible data download,” the report concludes.
