12 September 2013

Sometimes, Bad News is All There Is

Nearly 11 months after a Palmer man and his plane were reported missing en route from Soldotna to Palmer and never found, the discovery of wreckage on a beach near Kodiak may offer closure in the case.

According to Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters, troopers were informed that beachcombers on Sitkinak Island Sept. 4 had found landing gear parts which may be from 27-year-old Brendan Mattingley’s green, red and white Piper PA-18 Super Cub.

... A preliminary NTSB report says that a radar track identified by investigators as Mattingley’s probable path traces a meandering path north, then ends over Cook Inlet. In statements made to investigators and later released by the NTSB, four witnesses say Mattingley had gotten drunk at a Soldotna bar the night before the crash and was asked to leave, eventually taking a taxi to the airport and being dropped off there on the morning of the crash.

...On Thursday afternoon, [Clint] Johnson [NTSB investigator] was reviewing documentation on the tundra tires fitted to Mattingley’s plane, required by the FAA for any non-standard aircraft components. While Johnson says non-standard landing gear are “very, very common” in Alaska, the paperwork may help confirm whether the parts once belonged to the missing aircraft.

The whole story is here.

My heart goes out to Mattingley's family. It's not the news they wanted, but it may be all the answer they ever get.

4 comments:

Sandy Livesay said...

Rev. Paul,

Not good news at all regarding the pilot or the plane.

Maybe the family will have closure.

Rev. Paul said...

I hope so, Sandy. I think - if it were me - I'd want to know something, even if it was that the crash had been located and he didn't make it. Not knowing would be worse, to me.

On a Wing and a Whim said...

damnit.

Well, at least we know.

damnit.

Rev. Paul said...

Yeah, Wing. I'm with you.