Four Dead in Yesterday’s Plane Crash; Sheriff’s Office Releases Names
Smoke rising from the burned plane with a man attempts to put out the fire with a hose. [Photo from a reader]
This is a press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has recovered the remains of four individuals from the site of a small airplane crash Thursday, July 15, 2021, near Dinsmore.
The decedents have been identified as:
- Henry Punt, age 69, of Los Angeles County;
- Steve Sanz, age 63, of Orange County;
- Jacquie Ann Figg, age 56, of San Bernadino County;
- Kenneth John Malinowski, age 62, of Sacramento County.
No additional occupants are believed to be outstanding at this time. The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office sends our deepest condolences to the families of those lost in this tragic accident.
During their initial response and investigation, Sheriff’s deputies learned of many heroic acts taken by witnesses and nearby community members in an attempt to provide assistance to the victims and prevent the progression of the associated fire. These actions of great bravery have not gone unnoticed and likely saved many additional lives and property by averting a potential wildfire. The Sheriff’s Office is grateful for the partnership of local organizations and our community, who continue to answer the call to serve their fellow community members in the greatest time of need.
Further investigation of this incident will be conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. For additional information and media inquiries regarding this investigation, please contact the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Earlier:
- Airplane Crash at Dinsmore Airport; Fire Spreading
- ‘I’m Going to Have Nightmares,’ Says One of the First Persons at the Scene of Dinsmore Airplane Crash
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Not local. Good.
they were from California though
They were human beings and any deaths thru this kind of accident is a tragedy.
Is this last thread of comments I’m adding to for real, human nature thought process is strange with some people.
Wow what difference does that make? People lost their lives have some compassion…geez what is wrong with people these days!
Local to me, one of them was my co-worker and I just found out about this today.
That’s just wrong, and I’m a callous individual and a blatant smart ass, for the most part.
Dear Lord, please bring comfort and solace to the families of these four people and may their souls rest eternally in the comfort of your arms.
Amen
comments are not working
You are right. Nobody can see this
Snort.
Let’s just pretend it isn’t true.
Then we can advocate flying with a clear conscience.
You know like the VAERS versus vaccination comparison discussion.
Heavy loaded Cessna 172 flying low and slow in an unfamiliar pattern.?
A classic set up for a stall/spin accident, particularly given the heat and erratic winds at the time. ?
My heartfelt condolences to their families and friends.
It wasn’t a Cessna
It was a Mooney M20J, but I agree with the rest of your assessment. Way too much weight on board for that aircraft, airport and those conditions
Great aircraft the M201J. Too bad I’ll never fit into one.
I didn’t see the initial report from the NTSB so I was taking a guess form what was left in the picture. There’s usually a spate of these type accidents when the weather heats up. Always preventable and always sad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia1NDqgkMRk&t=504s
Minute 1:20-9:ish gets into some detail about the pilot, the Moony, and Dinsmore
So Sad! My condolences ❤️?
A very sad outcome with four individuals being killed in the plane crash. My most sincere condolences to their families and friends. May God give them strength and love to help them through this most difficult time.
My deepest condolences to the families and friends. Rest in peace.
I’m probably not alone wondering if the overweight cargo included some local cannabis.
Not saying older people don’t smoke but good question.
??Hey wait a minute “bud” they were in that age group that gave you the 60s. Condolences to the families of the victims. ??
Does it really matter? What ever the reason they paid for it with their lives.
AMEN
Thank you HCSD for acknowledging the community members that came to aid those unfortunate people on the plane.
With 4 people on board, that aircraft was significantly overloaded. 4 people and baggage in an M20J would almost certainly have put the CG out of envelope, even with a 40 gallon fuel burn before getting to Dinsmore. The ability to make that takeoff even with 3 people in that aircraft would have been marginal at best.
Dinsmore yesterday afternoon would be around 4,000′ density altitude, a 2,500 runway and rising terrain and trees at the end of the runway. A recipe for disaster
Yup, understanding density altitude is key.
At 3,300 MSL on Oregon Mountain the DA’s been so high it grounded the hummingbirds for much of the day during the heat wave. ?
Appreciate what sounds like a knowledgable response.
How tragic. I think of the sheer terror that people must go through in those last seconds. Such anguish. May they be at peace now.
It would be interesting to know the nature of their trip. Only for curiosity. They were a relatively far flung group.
2 seconds of terror, instant blaze j,et fuel so hot there was no way to visually see 4 bodies. Just alot of burn. Very sad. Our locals really were amazing and quick to aid and get that fire out
Absolutely right. I found the mj20 to be a slow climber with 3 out of Hayfork and 4,000’of runway last summer. Dinsmore is 2375’. There was no way that plane was going to fly out of there without clipping those trees. That’s not the 1st crash there and won’t be the last, sadly. Condolences to the loved ones left behind.
Just to set some facts straight:
An M20J has over 950 lb useful load. After burning 4 hours of fuel (leaving ~ 1hr remaining,) with 3 average weight men and 1 average weight woman, he could not have been over max T/O wt. He was probably close to 200 lbs under gross. It is not known if there was luggage at all, so there’s absolutely nothing to suggest his CG was aft of the envelope.
He had 2500 ft of runway. His is a much more capable Mooney than mine, and at 2500 ft elev/ 90 deg (5,000 ft DA,) my book says I can clear a 50 ft obstacle in 2300 ft at gross weight (again, he was well under gross weight.) At 5000 ft / 80 deg I can clear a 50 ft obstacle in 3300 ft.
2375 ft is not a high elevation airport. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he did nothing grossly negligent; he was not pushing the envelope.
UNLESS … he did actually take off with a tail wind. If he did, that WAS an inexcusable mistake, IMO. However, I don’t believe that has been established and, in fact, any amount of head wind would have aided his T/O performance.
Jim, if you are truly a pilot and own a Mooney, for all of our sakes, hang up the keys and find a different hobby. Your attempts to justify this are insane.
I’m not saying a Mooney can’t take off from a 2,500’ runway, but it certainly wasn’t going to happen from this particular runway. This isn’t a straight takeoff over a 50’ obstacle, it’s a challenging mountain airport. By the numbers, they could not outclimb the terrain and certainly wouldn’t have had the airspeed to make the turn over the river, which would still put them over gradually rising terrain. Of course there was a tailwind.
Your 200 pound margin and balanced cg calculation quickly goes away when you look at what those individuals actually weighed and the effect of even a small amount of baggage in the baggage compartment. They were certainly overweight leaving Southern California in the morning.
Also, we have some information now that suggests that this individual has a history of poor judgment in operating this aircraft.
Either way, the result speaks for itself. I suggest you keep an eye out for the NTSB report next year. It might change your approach
Friends of Michelle Bushnell 🙂
Co worker of mine, they just loved to fly
Damn all of a sudden everyones a flight expert..
Condolances to the familes
Maybe not everyone, but I’d take Todd’s word for it. He obviously knows his shit!
Jacquie was a friend of mine, and many others. She was always a bright, happy, beaming lady with never-ending enthusiasm and whom never expressed anger. She leaves behind four children. Ken, one of the others on the plane, was her mate. I don’t know who the other two were. They traveled up to Humboldt to look at some land for purchase. I believe they were on their way to Napa for lunch before returning to southern California.
Much thanks and appreciation to those who tried to help at the scene. Jacquie was doing great work for many people, far more than people could understand or that I can aptly explain in a short message, and her legacy will continue through her friends and those she tutored and trained.
God bless.
Thank you jacquie was my cousin and the people posting derogatory and spiteful comments need to take a step back and think of her children and family left behind! Please be kind
Spot on Todd! Weight and balance is based on the laws of physics. That the pilot in command virtually ignored this MANDATORY understanding of their basic flight training is cause to scratch ones head, and perhaps ask a few other questions. Tragic and gut wrenching for everyone involved and connected to the victims.
Agreed. The unfortunate irony is, it took only minutes to find the POH for the M20J and recognize that there would be a problem. This could have been avoided with a couple basic calculations by the pilot. One must also wonder why the pilot was seemingly not familiar enough with his aircraft to recognize the problem ahead. Certainly the climb out from Fullerton in the morning with 300 more pounds of fuel would have been strained, even at sea level in cool, morning air. This underscores the importance of the fundamentals, which really need to be reinforced with a proper mountain checkout before attempting operations at an airport like this.
Todd, do you think there should be some rules restricting pilots from that area without proper knowledge of how the plane will act in that particular airport? I really don’t want to blame the pilot (may he RIP), but he was in charge of the aircraft. What is proper mountain checkout? Is it an altitude training course?
All pilots who operate around mountainous terrain should receive a mountain checkout, whether landing at a mountain field or not. The content isn’t necessarily standardized, but should include fairly detailed, mountain flying specific ground and flight training with a CFI. Short field takeoffs, density altitude, flight planning and many other factors become very important at an airport like Dinsmore and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Mountain checkout or not, as Dave said, weight and balance and performance calculations are basic piloting skills that a student should be able to perform before even entering an aircraft. ALL pilots are responsible for operating their aircraft within the aircrafts performance envelope and within their own training and abilities.
I do believe the general aviation community needs to build a stronger safety culture, if for no other reason than to stop driving up aircraft insurance prices with needless accidents. Far too many die in GA accidents after neglecting the very fundamentals of flight training.
Thank you for your comments on things I know nothing about.
Very informative.
I haven’t been on a plane since 05. I have no interest in ever being on one again either.
Nonetheless, your comments reflect an experienced knowledge that everyone is learning from.
But flying is really the safest thing to do.
99.9999% risk free.
Why take the additional risk?
If you choose not to, you are putting everyone else at additional risk.
Go with the odds.
It’s really the only sensible thing to do.
It makes the most sense.
Certainly you are not advocating risky behaviour just because you have concerns.
Just roll up your sleeves and get on board like everyone else, right?
What is there to worry about?
Do it now. Don’t wait.
Think Delta.
It’s as easy as getting the vaccine.
Spewing Bullshit not in favor of flying should not be allowed.
It should be censored.
Or else, we should all go to The North Coast Journal, never to return.
And what happened to my VAERS comment?
I insulted no one.
And no, I am not minimizing these folks,
It’s sarcasm.
I’m calling out glaring hypocrisy.
Sorry for the losses but we dont need more yuppie out of area people buying land here. Especially orange county folk!
Its making it increasingly difficult for born and raised local families to afford a home.
Please come visit but dont buy, there are strange energies in our region that will make sure you dont.
It also takes away from the money we donate to our local vfd&first responders, we have limited resources here already and flying out of an airport you obviously dont know how to could have just burned a town to the ground and killed locals. We dont have money to just fly somewhere else and build a new home. Many would be left homeless.
That kind of lack of respect for years is part of why folks dont want yuppies here.
Sorry to have to say this, but its the truth and people die every day. No disrespect intended.
Taking out a town with them would have been worse and was narrowly avoided. As rural residents we must speak up or these people will destroy our area.
Again not a hater its just time to put aside emotion and be real and honest. Enough already. No planes into our small airports without special training. Or we stop the flights altogether during dry season.
So many thanks to the locals who stopped what could have been a major disaster. If this happens again in a month it could burn a majority of the county down no matter who does what. Low humidity and 30mph winds and dinsmore would be gone right now.
So irresponsible!!! But why would they care, they dont live here and rich people in general could give a crap about anyone in a lower class.
Wow! Your level of compassion is really something.
RIP lost ones. Condolences to all who will miss them.
Jacquie is my aunt. My dad lives in Mad River. She isn’t some yuppie.
I want to thank everyone for their heroic efforts that tried to help. I Have known the 4 passengers as very close friends for years. I am shattered. They flew up there to look at land for sale. We had a dream we wanted to create a retreat and farming community. We all are speechless, words can not express our pain of losing such fine honorable, enthusiastic, and optimistic friends. Ken and Jacquie in particular were my very best friends. I’ve been crying all day. I loved them very much.
I was very surprised when I called her and she told me she was flying to see the land we had talked about two weeks ago. We chatted some short words and the last thing I said to them was, “Happy Landing”.
There are many of us here sprawled across the State and country too that will mourn them for a long while.
May God Bless their souls.
Personally, I sense Pilot error. People don’t think how to evaluate concerns of air density /weight and horsepower.
That strip is cute if you have a citabria or rv4.
Its no joke.
R
Hmm…. Maybe the county could buy title to the trees on the approach… and cut them down… eh ?
My sincere condolences to the families and friends of those lost.
NTSB will be the ones to determine the cause. Equipment failure, human error or even the possibility of contaminated fuel. Speculating at this point is just speculation.
Thanks to the many local people who responded to or contributed equipment for the emergency. Your actions speak loudly of the community’s concern for others.
On a side note, pilots who learn to fly in California learn in many different environments and do it well. So don’t judge, we weren’t there.
Again my deepest condolences to the many families. You are in my prayers.
For non-pilots Google M20j for the Pilot’s Operating Manual (POH)
This aircraft is a Mooney, weight loads are described in sections one and two.
I don’t encourage speculation, but as you suggest, the POH is available to anyone and the numbers show that this was an impossible takeoff, even without a mechanical issue.
Section 2 of the POH is limitations. While important, the max gross weight only tells part of the story.
The weight and balance charts in section 6 show that the CG would have been aft of the CG limit.
The performance charts in section 5 show that the aircraft did not have the performance to clear the rising terrain and trees from a 2,500′ runaway at that density altitude with that much mass on board, even neglecting the crucial impact of aft CG. That much is not speculation and I encourage any pilot to review this and take the lessons learned. These are the very basics of piloting.
It is unlikely that the NTSB will find any significant new information at this point.
First I want to offer condolences to all friends and family. This is a horrible event for all involved. Hoping the first on scene folks can get some attention for what they witnessed.
On the technical aspects of flying, let’s not forget that the wind blows north to south here during the daylight hours. Taking off to the south puts the wind at your back.
Not a pilot, but I understand this to be a disadvantage. Especially when density altitude is a factor..
Again Rest In Peace. This is an event I will not forget.
Thanks Todd for your analysis. For me it helps understand what happened. For some of us it does make a difference.
You clearly didn’t do the (proper) Wt and balance calcs. I used (2) 180 lb men in the front seats, (1) in the rear and (1) 150 lb woman in the rear. 100 lbs of fuel. Loaded A/C weight 2500 lbs. (240 lbs BELOW max gross) Moment = 116.0 in lbs. Puts the CG EXACTLY in the center of the envelope. Loading was NOT an issue.
Now for T/O performance. Looking at 2000 ft elevation, 104 deg F (surely it was not that hot,) Fully loaded (he was 240 lbs lighter than that.) The chart says he could clear a 50 ft obstacle in 2500 ft. There are no trees growing out of the end of the runway and with a slight turn right, no obstacles at all for miles. Performance was NOT an issue.
Todd, yours WAS pure speculation and it was grossly erroneous.