Few Clues In Fatal Flight Of Timber Men Ntsb Can’t Find Cause Of ‘96 Crash That Killed Intermountain’s Kohli And Diamond, Pilot
The 1996 plane crash that killed Coeur d’Alene timber executive Ken Kohli and two others in the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness left few clues about the cause of the crash, a federal report says.
The report by a National Transportation Safety Board investigator says the plane sputtered in midair before it crashed and burned on July 26, 11 miles from the Libby airport.
Killed were Kohli, 35, and Seth Diamond, 34, of the Intermountain Forest Industry Association, and pilot Alfred Hall, 61. Diamond was from Missoula, and Hall was from Hayden Lake.
The NTSB report will be reviewed in Washington, D.C., by officials trying to determine the probable cause of the crash.
The search for clues has been difficult because damage to the 1969 Piper Cherokee Arrow was extensive, including destruction of the engine and instruments.
Investigator Jeff Guzzetti of Seattle said he found no evidence of an aircraft fire, explosion, structural failure or catastrophic mechanical failure, nor was there evidence of ill health on the part of the pilot.
The plane left Coeur d’Alene the morning of July 26 and was taking Diamond to a meeting in Libby.
Robert Lacount, a mill foreman fishing at Bull Lake, reported that he heard the engine “cutting in and out” and “popping,” like a lawn mower engine. Lacount said that he didn’t think the plane was high enough to clear the mountains and that within minutes, he heard a crash and saw smoke.
Jay Fisher of Soda Springs, Idaho, was working as a campground host at Bull Lake. He said he saw the plane pass overhead and heard the engine almost quit.
Kohli, communications manager of the forest industry group, was survived by a wife and three children.
Diamond, manager of wildlife issues for IFIA and a former Forest Service wildlife biologist, also was survived by a wife and three children.
Hall, employed as a pilot by Idaho Forest Industries, left a wife and two children.
, DataTimes