LEWISTON – A federal report that described erratic maneuvers by the pilot of a plane that crashed and killed three high school students a year ago is unsettling, Lewiston School Committee Chairman James Handy said Friday.
“It makes me uncomfortable to know that someone was behind the pilot’s stick, according to witnesses, operating – in the very least – odd behavior, and it looks like risky behavior,” Handy said.
The students who died, Nicholas Babcock, 17, Teisha Loesberg, 16, and Shannon Fortier, 15, were members of an Air Force Junior ROTC unit getting flight instruction at a training camp in Newry.
The report, released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board, concluded that no part of the plane malfunctioned before it crashed.
The report also said the pilot, William “Charlie” Weir, 24, performed stalling maneuvers and flew close to treetops, according to cadets who flew with him earlier that day.
The report did not blame pilot error or offer a conclusion.
However, Handy said the report raises the questions of who should be piloting planes with students and what kind of flying maneuvers should be allowed.
The head of the Lewiston High School ROTC program, Col. Robert Meyer, is already addressing those issues, Handy said. Cadets are not flying this year at the Newry camp.
And since the crash, the Air Force Junior ROTC headquartered in Maxwell, Ala., has banned aerobatic maneuvers and stalls.
“It’s good something can come out of a tragedy,” Handy said.
When Lewiston’s program returns to flying, it will likely be done with Civil Air Patrol pilots rather than civilian pilots, Meyer has said. The Maine crash is the only Junior ROTC accident that has happened, Meyer said.
Because of the steps Meyer has already taken, Handy said he doesn’t anticipate the Lewiston School Committee will take any action or make any policy changes in the program.
Meanwhile, parents have offered strong support for program, Handy said. “It’s a niche for some students.”
Civil Air Patrol still flying
While Lewiston High ROTC students are grounded, youths in the Lewiston Civil Air Patrol – an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force but not associated with Lewiston High School – are continuing to fly.
Civil Air Patrol cadets are only flown by CAP pilots under strict conditions, said Lt. Col. Scott Higgins. When more than one cadet is in the plane, no maneuvers are allowed other than straight flying, he said.
Each flight has a syllabus and strict standards, Higgins said. “Pilots and cadets are required to read that syllabus. They know what should happen.” The CAP squadron has 15 to 20 orientation pilots, including Higgins.
The maneuvers described by witnesses in the NTSB report on the June 22, 2006, fatal flight would not be permitted in CAP flights, Higgins said.
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