The Independence Day air ambulance crash that killed its three crew members and two passengers was blamed on extended landing gear and unretracted wing flaps, but pilot fatigue may have played a factor, according to a Nov. 17 federal aviation report obtained by CBS 7 News.
The National Transportation Safety Board report stated no mechanical malfunctions were found, and the twin-engines engines were operating at a high-power setting when the Cessna 421B crashed at about 12:15 a.m., within two minutes of takeoff from Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport.
The 59-year-old pilot, not named in the report but previously identified as Ted Caffarel, was reported by family to have usually slept at the time of the accident, however his sleep schedule immediately preceding the accident was not determined.
“The company,” O’Hara Flying Service based out of Amarillo, “did not have, and was not required to have guidance or a policy addressing fatigue management,” the report stated.
Ibuprofen, a pain and inflammatory medicine, and azacyclonol, an anti-hallucinogenic medicine, were reported found in Caffarel’s system in a toxicology exam, but “were not at levels that would have affected his performance.”
Caffarel, a recent Alpine resident from Beaumont, 42-year-old Medic Tracy Chambers of Alpine, and Flight Nurse Sharon Falkner, 49, of Fort Davis, were transporting Midlanders Richard and Mary Catherine Folger, 78 and 73, respectively, to the Midland International Airport after Mary Catherine Folger dislocated a hip at their second home in Alpine, according to previous reports.
