Gov. George Mickelson

MICKELSON

Posted By: Anne Hermann (email)
Date: 8/13/2009 at 08:11:34

Maquoketa Sentinel-Press
April 21, 1993

South Dakota Governor Killed in Crash
Plane hits silo near Otter Creek
By Sheri Melvold

Federal Aviation Administration investigators were inspecting the scene early Tuesday morning, April 20 of a fiery plane crash which killed eight, including the governor of South Dakota on a farm, 14 miles north of Maquoketa.

There was no one at the Merle and Lynn Ambrosy farm when the twin engine plane exploded as it hit one of two silos adjacent to a barn about 4 p.m. The farm is located about 14 miles north of Maquoketa just off Highway 61 in section 14 of Otter Creek Township.

Although the eight bodies have not been identified, the governor’s office released the list of passengers and pilots scheduled to be on the plane. There were no survivors.

The list includes Gov. George S. Mickelson, Roland Dolly, Pierre, South Dakota’s state economic development commissioner; Ron Reed, Pierre, the state’s energy policy commissioner and formerly state economic development commissioner; Dave Birkeland; Sioux Falls, president and chief executive officer of First Bank of South Dakota; Angus Anson, Sioux Falls, general manager in South Dakota for Northern States Power Co. and Roger Hainje, Sioux Falls, president of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation. Pilots were Ron Becker and Dave Hansen.

The plane, a Mitsubishi MU-2, a turboprop corporate-style, was enroute to South Dakota from Cincinnati, Ohio where the group had been working on officials to keep open the Morrell plant in Sioux Falls.

Sandra Campbell of the Federal Administration office in Kansas City told the Sentinel-Press, Tuesday morning, that investigators may be in the area for up to the end of the week.

She said it was too early to tell how big a factor weather played in the accident. According to an official weather observation taken at 4:08 p.m., minutes after the accident, the sky was overcast with a cloud level at 200 feet. Visibility was 1 ½ miles with light rain and fog.

The plane left Lunkin Airport in Cincinnati bound for Sioux Falls and Pierre. Exact time of departure wasn’t available. The FAA’s Chicago radar center was tracking the plane.

At about 3:45 p.m., the control tower at Dubuque Regional Airport was contacted by the Chicago center, to notify Dubuque of an emergency and requesting that an ambulance and other emergency equipment be alerted.

The pilot had reported one engine out and decompression and had asked the nearest airport to make an emergency landing. The pilot was advised to land in Dubuque. He reported that he was at 2,700 feet altitude and could not hold altitude and wasn’t sure he could make it to Dubuque, she said.

At that point, the Chicago center reported losing the aircraft on radar. A few moments later, however, the pilot contacted the Dubuque tower, she said. The tower told the pilot all the runway lights were turned on to full intensity and emergency vehicles were on their way. The tower advised the pilot of wind information and the altimeter reading and cleared him to land on runway 31 to the northwest.

The pilot acknowledged that information and asked how far from the airport he was, Campbell said. He was told that he had been lost on radar and was asked whether he had distance-measuring equipment onboard. The pilot responded, “Yeah,” That was the final transmission received from the aircraft, Campbell said.

Campbell said the final radio contact occurred at 3:52 p.m., seven minutes after the Dubuque tower was notified of the emergency.

Tuesday morning, Dr. Thomas Bennett, Iowa medical examiner and Dr. Paul Koob, Jackson County medical examiner, were conducting autopsies and identifying remains of the victims at Jackson County Public Hospital.

Koob said at midmorning, positive identification and a cause of death had not been established for any of the victims.

“Basically, there were two causes – multiple injuries from the impact or death due to the fire. It’ll probably be the end of the day before we’ll know for sure,” he said.

He said seven of the victims “were burned so badly we’ll need dental records” to identify them.

Koob said seven of the eight victims remained in the plane when it crashed and one was thrown clear.