Pilot Inexperience Cited As Crash Cause No Engine Trouble Found In Plane That Hit House, Report Concludes

A pilot’s lack of experience and failure to control his plane caused a fiery crash that killed two men and destroyed a Garwood home in February 1998, federal investigators said this week.

In a final report released Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board said pilot George Freije had only one hour of flying experience needed for the weather conditions in the six months before the crash. Freije, 73, and passenger Dean Cox, 48, died in the Feb. 26 crash. Freije owned the Lancair IV kit plane and had a commercial pilot’s license.

The plane crashed into Marianna Reig’s home on the north bank of Alpine Lake. Reig was not home when the crash occurred.

About 10 minutes before the plane took off from the Coeur d’Alene Airport, there was a 600-foot cloud ceiling and about 1-1/2 miles of visibility. Witnesses said it had been snowing and foggy that morning, according to the NTSB.

Freije was planning a trip to Billings for a pilots’ convention. When he called for a weather briefing the morning of the flight, Freije was advised that he would need to fly with instruments rather than visually and that there were chances of icing and poor visibility, according to NTSB.

Freije was instrument rated and had flown more than 5,000 hours. Of that time, about 188 hours were for instrument flying, the NTSB said.

However, Freije did not log any instrument flying time in the Lancair IV that crashed.

Instrument flying requires pilots to rely on navigation devices and other instruments to guide them through their flight at night or in poor weather conditions.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the pilot shortly after takeoff. At that time, witnesses on the ground said they saw an airplane maneuvering in the low clouds, according to the NTSB.

Witnesses said the plane’s engine seemed to be working smoothly without sputtering and then the plane hit the home two or three seconds after coming out of the clouds.

Local authorities said the plane severed a natural gas line when it hit the home. About 10 to 15 seconds after the impact, the home and the plane were destroyed by a powerful explosion.

An inspection of the salvaged engine showed no evidence of malfunction, according to the NTSB.

This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT Homeowner’s suit

Marianna Reig, whose home was destroyed in the crash, filed a lawsuit against pilot George Freije’s estate in August 1998, claiming Freije operated his experimental plane “negligently and carelessly.”

The suit, filed in 1st District Court, seeks damages to be proved at trial. The trial is scheduled for March 6, according to court records.