The probe in improper use of the student license for the pilot whose plane was immersed in the Alaska frozen lake
A federal investigation on the improper use of the license of a student pilot continues for a man from Alaska who waited hours for rescue with two young family members on the aircraft wing after landing on a partially frozen lake, where the plane partially sinked.
THE Federal Aviation Administration Thursday said that like all the drivers involved in accidents, the pilot in Sunday’s accident, identified by an official and federal aviation record like John B. Morris Jr., from Kenai, is investigated. In the case of Morris, he holds a license for students who prevent him from flying with passengers.
Faa has a series of disciplinary actions, up to the suspension or revocation of the license of a pilot of students for violations.
The plane, a Super Cruiser by Piper Pa-12 recorded in Morris, landed for unknown reasons near the tip of a glacier on Lake Tustumena, on the Kenai peninsula of Alaska Sunday. The pilot and passengers were saved the following day after spending a cold night on the wing.
In the meantime, the National Transportation Safety Board He also announced on Thursday that he was no longer investigating the accident.
What happened?
Morris and two young family members, described by the soldiers of the Alaska state as in elementary and middle school school ages, flew from Soldtutna airport on a tourist tour last Sunday.
In a post on social media, John Morris implored people to help looking for his son and grandchildren, saying they were late returning from a Sunday afternoon flight.
The plane did not have a lighthouse of the locator and the last ping from the pilot’s cell phone put it in Lake Tustumena, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) south of Anchor.
Terry Godes, one of about a dozen Samaritan pilots who were looking for the missing plane, identified him on Lake Tustumena, and three people on the wing did it in his hand while approaching them on Monday. The officials said that the plane did not completely sank the soft ice because the fabric that covers the wing helped to keep it afloat.
The National Guard of the Alaska Army sent a helicopter to save the three. They were transported to a hospital nearby with what officials described as non -lethal injuries.
The girls were dry, but Morris Jr. was bathed on the plane that sank slowly after bringing them to the wing. Even his phone wet and stopped working.
The investigation
The NTSB leads investigations into accidents and FAA manages the application.
Mark Ward, an NTSB investigator, previously told the Associated Press that Morris Jr. did not report the accident within the period of time required by 24 hours and did not respond to the calls. Morris did not return several messages this week at the AP.
If the pilot landed on the lake that was not firmly frozen as he estimated, this is a different scenario that if a mechanic emitted has forced them to reduce, said Ward.
The NTSB announced on Thursday that he was no longer investigating. “We were able to confirm that there was no substantial damage or serious injuries”, in the sense that it did not fall into the jurisdiction of the agency to investigate, said the spokesman Sarah Taylor Sulick in one and -mail.
The FAA examines “pilot qualifications and performance as part of any investigation on accidents,” said spokesperson Ian Gregor, also via E -Mail. He later said that the agency does not “comment on any aspect of an open investigation”.
Why is the pilot looked at?
In 2018, Morris Jr. received his student driver license with the limitation that did not bring passengers. Ward, the ERSB investigator, said he was said by the FAA that Morris seemed to have a story of violation of the ban and had not asked questions for a regular driver license.
Among the other bosses of FAA for a student pilot include not fly or transport properties for compensation or rental, fly to support a company or fly internationally, with the exception of solo training flights from the Alaska communities of Haines, Gustavus or Juneau to Whitehorse, Yukon, returning to the Canadian province of British Columbia.
The pilots of students flying passengers are among the most common violations of the FAA rules, according to the owners of aircraft and the pilots’ association.
Speaking in general, FAA sanctions depend on the circumstances of the individual cases. Actions It may include consultancy and training in the lowest part for suspension or revocations of high -end certificate.
