Witnesses: Plane in fatal Birchwood crash lost power on takeoff

The pilot who died when his small plane crashed at the Birchwood Airport last weekend had just taken off when the aircraft had engine trouble and nosed over into the ground, witnesses told federal investigators.

Another man had been offered but refused a ride in the Champion 7ECA on the 1:30 p.m. Saturday flight in which 43-year-old Christopher Lampshire died, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigators. A preliminary NTSB report on the crash, released Thursday, said the plane crashed following "a loss of engine power and subsequent loss of control just after takeoff."

Investigators said in the report that Lampshire had successfully made a series of touch-and-go landings at the airport beginning late Saturday morning. At about 1 p.m. he taxied his plane, which he was trying to sell, to a fuel vendor; roughly 15 minutes later, he met with a potential buyer.

"The potential buyer looked the airplane over and noticed no mechanical problems with the airplane, and reported that the pilot said there (were) no mechanical problems with the airframe and engine," investigators wrote. "The pilot asked the potential buyer if he would like to go for a ride in the airplane, and the potential buyer declined, (saying) he would only go for a ride if he made an offer for purchasing the airplane."

The potential buyer then watched as Lampshire took off again from the airport's Runway 2R, investigators said, making a 90-degree right turn, then "a nose and right wing low descent." Witnesses closer to the runway's end told the NTSB that the Champion's engine partially or fully lost power just after takeoff, and that they heard "sputtering and popping" noises.

"The witnesses reported after the loss of engine power they saw the airplane turn steeply to the right and then it appeared to stall," investigators wrote. "The airplane's right wing and nose dropped abruptly, and continued to descend, nose down."

A helicopter pilot, flying about a half-mile away just before the crash, said he heard a male voice on the Birchwood Airport common tower advisory frequency announce he was taking off from Runway 2R and making a right turnout. The helicopter pilot saw the plane, noting it was lower than he had expected and the bank of its turn "appeared steep considering the low altitude of the airplane."

"At about 90 degrees into the right turn, the helicopter pilot reported hearing a male voice transmit on the CTAF frequency, 'Oh (expletive),' " investigators wrote. "Immediately after the radio transmission, the airplane appeared to stall and enter a nose down attitude. The helicopter pilot observed the descent until the airplane disappeared below the tree line."

After hitting the ground, the Champion burst into flames, which investigators said "incinerated" the aircraft. First responders Saturday initially reported two people dead in the two-seat plane, citing difficulties in examining the wreckage.

The NTSB has recovered the aircraft, the report said, but a detailed examination of its engine is pending.

Clint Johnson, the NTSB's Alaska chief, said Thursday while the investigation remains in its early phases, the sequence of events suggests Lampshire tried to turn the plane around and land at the airport again when it lost power.

Johnson said the Birchwood crash was marked by an "accelerated stall" during a sharp turn amid a loss of engine power. He called the circumstances similar to those in a 2010 Homer Airport crash that injured two people and a 2011 Delta Junction crash in which Fairbanks pilot Eric Corl died, as well as the 2013 Merrill Field crash in Anchorage that killed pilot Robert Lilly and passenger Jessi Nelson.

"We're not drawing any conclusions with this one, but that scenario fits — those scenarios fit with this accident," Johnson said.

A 2011 article in Flying magazine on pilots' options during engine failures noted that remaining airborne through the "impossible turn" to land at an airport often requires an uncommon blend of luck and skill. Instead, the magazine recommended landing on whatever surface is ahead of the aircraft, accepting damage to the plane but protecting its occupants — a recommendation Johnson echoed Thursday.

"When you start your private pilot training — you know, the very basic training — that's one of the emergencies that they teach," Johnson said. "If you have an engine failure on takeoff, you take what's ahead rather than trying to turn and land, making that 'impossible turn' back to the airport to try and land."

Full weather data from the Birchwood Airport at the time of the crash was not available to the NTSB, but the Wasilla Airport 9 miles north reported 5-knot winds from the east, with visibility at 10 statute miles and few clouds at an altitude of 8,000 feet.

An obituary for Lampshire, published Thursday, said he worked as a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer in the Chugach National Forest. He leaves behind a wife, Faydra, and two teenage children. Donations to cover funeral expenses can be made to a family GoFundMe account or the Lampshire Memorial Fund at any AlaskaUSA Federal Credit Union branch.