Weather Reports Were Not Severe
"Automated instruments at the airport at 10:14 AM CT indicated that the wind was calm and visibility was three miles in light snow. There were scattered clouds at 400 feet and overcast at 700. These reports were corroborated by a pilot on the ground who took photographs."[1]
From the NTSB report:
"At 0716, the pilot called the Princeton Automated Flight Service Station for an abbreviated weather briefing. The AFSS specialist informed the pilot that cloud conditions at EVM were reported as scattered at 1,000 feet and overcast at 2,000 feet and that visibility was reported as 4 statute miles in light snow. (Unless otherwise indicated, all altitudes in this report are reported as height above mean sea level (msl.) Altitudes referenced from surface weather observations and forecasts (TAF) are reported as height above ground (agl).) At about 0719, the pilot stated, "You know what, I don't think I'm going to take this flight." At 0817, the pilot contacted AFSS and asked, "Can you give me Eveleth weather right now?" The AFSS specialist stated that the latest automated weather for EVM was issued at 0754 and that it indicated calm winds, visibility of 3 statute miles in light snow, and an overcast cloud ceiling at 900 feet. At 0818, the pilot began filing an IFR flight plan with an estimated departure from STP of 0920. At 0840, the pilot called Aviation Charter's director of charter and indicated that he was getting conflicting guidance from the Senator's staff and he did not feel comfortable deciding whether or not to make the flight. The director stated that the pilot did not seem overly stressed, just concerned about doing a good job."[2]
USA Today talked to a pilot, Don Sipola, who said "visibility in the area at the time of the crash was 2.50 miles, well above the one-mile minimum for a standard instrument landing." Sipola also said that the crash site was south of the normal approach path so the plane must have deviated "for unknown and unexplained reasons."[3]
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-10-25-plane-down-minnesota_x.htm
These reasons were later assumed to be a combination of (1) the pilots choosing to manually fly the plane and (2) being led off course by a faulty beacon that was slightly out of alignment at Eveleth Airport.
From page 33 of the NTSB Report:
"…the pilots who conducted the October 2002 flight checks told Safety
Board investigators that the VOR runway 27 approach took them
approximately 1 mile south of the field when hand-flying the approach,
but that it took them to the correct aiming point (the position from
which a normal transition to landing can be made) when flown coupled to
the autopilot."[2]
Gary Ulman Flew in the Same Area Shortly Afterwards
"Gary Ulman, co-owner of Taconit Aviation, based out of the Eveleth airport, took his plane up after receiving word from the Duluth tower that the Wellstone plane failed to land. "Approach called up here to me on the telephone and asked if the airplane was on the ground. And I told them 'No, it wasn't.'" said Ulman. When he went outside to double check the tarmac, he phoned the Duluth tower back to confirm that the Wellstone plane had not landed. The controller called rescue personnel, said Ulman, and he took his plane up to search for the missing flight. Ulman and other local pilots who flew into Eveleth's airport that day said icing was not at a dangerous level and characterized the weather as not dangerous.
"I don't think icing had an effect," said Ulman, who took his plane up twice after the crash, first to find the wreckage, then with Chief Shykes of the Evelyth-Virginia Fire Department to help direct the fire and rescue personnel."[1]
Two Planes Had Landed at Eveleth Without Incident Two Hours Earlier
"two smaller Beech Queen Air planes had landed at Eveleth without incident two hours before the crash, when temperatures were colder."
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/4371837.htm
An article posted by KSTP TV, Associated Press Writer Ashley H. Grant described the Friday morning of the crash:
"On Friday, Wellstone's plane to Virginia was due to leave at 9:20 am, so he woke early and worked out at home. A former collegiate wrestler, he had a passion for fitness and insisted on exercising at least an hour most days despite a mild form of multiple sclerosis. Campaign manager Jeff Blodgett got into the office about 7:45 as usual. He took a call from the scheduler, saying the pilot was slightly concerned about the weather up north. At the same time, Gary Ulman, co-owner of Taconit Aviation, arrived at the Eveleth Virginia airport. "It was cold and a bit icy, but nothing unusual for northern Minnesota in late October. Everything was all normal, all standard," Ulman said. National Center for Atmospheric Research meteorologist Ben Bernstein, who studied radar and satellite imagery along with other weather information for the NTSB, told Minnesota Public Radio that icing was not likely a major problem at the time the plane crashed. "Without actually going in there with an aircraft and putting instruments and probes in there, there's no way for us to know for certain how severe the conditions may have been, but looking at the data we did look at, it didn't appear to be a particularly severe situation. This case looked like something that wasn't really far out of the norm."[4]
NTSB Meteorologist Ben Bernstein Says "Icing not likely a major problem"
"..[A]viation research meteorologist Ben Bernstein, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research... analyzed the weather at the time of the crash at the request of the NTSB.
He declined to discuss whether icing could have brought down the plane. But Bernstein told Minnesota Public Radio that his analysis for the NTSB concluded icing was not likely a major problem at the time the plane crashed.
'There's no way for us to know for certain how severe the conditions may have been, but looking at the data we did look at, it didn't appear to be a particularly severe situation,' according to Bernstein. If heavy ice wasn't a factor, could there have been a mechanical catastrophe?'"[5]
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2003/03/03_zdechlikm_wellstone/
The King Air A100 Had De-Icing Systems & Electric Heating Elements
The King Air A100, as the Washington Post noted, "is equipped with numerous de-icing systems. Wings and tail surfaces are equipped with pneumatic de-icing 'boots' that inflate and deflate repeatedly to break ice from the leading edges of these surfaces. The plane's engine intakes are protected by electric heating elements, as are propeller surfaces. Fuel is heated automatically." [6]
David Von Drehle and Patrick Marx.
The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.:
Oct 26, 2002. pg. A.01
CNN Commented On Weather but Made No Assumptions
Wolf Blitzer is Misquoted
Jim Fetzer, in his book American Assassination, quotes from memory an exchange on CNN that he recalled on the day of the crash:
---QUOTE ON---
Reporter: There is no evidence that weather had anything to do with the crash.
Blizter: But the plane was flying into some sort of ice storm, was it not?
Reporter: There is no evidence that the weather had anything to do with the crash.[1]
---QUOTE OFF----
But the actual transcript read quite differently:
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: I should also point out that when I was in Minnesota on Tuesday, it was snowing. Probably one of the -- it's kind of early for most states, but Minnesota, as you know, is that kind of weather. The weather forecast for Duluth, Minnesota, where Senator Wellstone was heading -- was to head for a debate, was snow. I have no indication of whether that has anything to do with this plane crash.
---LONG BREAK---
BLITZER: Apparently, there was some freezing rain, we're told, in northern Minnesota as this plane went down.[7]
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0210/25/bn.04.html
Pilot Error is Officially Assumed as Cause of Crash
Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Nov 19, 2003. pg. 20
Pilot error caused the plane crash that killed Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and seven others just before the 2002 election, federal safety officials said Tuesday. They recommended tighter scrutiny of charter airlines.
A twin-engine plane carrying Wellstone, his wife, daughter and three campaign workers stalled when the pilots slowed it too quickly on its approach to Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport in northern Minnesota on Oct. 25, 2002, investigators told the National Transportation Safety Board.
The charter plane crashed 2 1/2 miles short of the runway, killing all aboard.[8]
--------------------
"We believe the airplane slowed... not because of icing, but because the flight crew did not monitor and maintain a minimum airspeed at the end of the approach. This can happen through inattention, distraction, and by not adhering to standard operating procedures, cockpit resource management techniques, and training."[9]
- Kurt Perrara, NTSB investigator
Sources:
[1] Four Arrows, James H. Fetzer American Assassination - The Strange Death Of Senator Paul Wellstone - ISBN: 9780975276303 Drench Kiss Media Corp
[2] Loss of Control and Impact With Terrain
Aviation Charter, Inc.
NTSB Aircraft Accident Report
[3] Sen. Wellstone, seven others dead in plane crash
2005 The Associated Press. USA Today
[4] Looking back at Paul Wellstone's final days
KSTP TV, Associated Press writer Ashley H. Grant
[5] Four months later, questions remain in Wellstone crash probe
by Mark Zdechlik, Minnesota Public Radio
by Bob Collins, Minnesota Public Radio
March 3, 2003
David Von Drehle and Patrick Marx.
The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.:
Oct 26, 2002. pg. A.01
[7] CNN BREAKING NEWS
Minnesota Senator Wellstone Perishes in Plane Crash
Aired October 25, 2002 - 13:40 ET
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