By James Pilcher
Enquirer staff writer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos from the scene Friday

CRASH LOCATION

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INVESTIGATION

Here are the next steps in the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation of Air Tahoma Flight 185: •Investigators will continue their on-site investigation through Monday, continuing to interview the surviving pilot as well as the air traffic controllers who were on duty early Friday. •The engines are being sent to Indianapolis-based Allison Engines, a part of Rolls-Royce, for further analysis. That examination could tell if one or both engines malfunctioned. •The propellers are being sent to Seattle-based Pacific Propellers, for further study. •When the investigation shifts back to Washington after Monday, NTSB officials will further analyze the flight data and voice recorders, using in-house experts, experts on the Convair 580, and people who knew the pilots, to identify voices. They will scrutinize maintenance records on the plane as well. If need be, investigators will use flight simulators or computers to recreate the path of the aircraft. NTSB officials said that the data recorder on this plane was an older model and did not record as many variables as newer planes, which could slow the investigation. •The agency will hold a series of public hearings to get testimony from the named parties: the Federal Aviation Administration, Air Tahoma, Allison Engines and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (since a Canadian firm, Kelowna Flightcraft, owns the certificate for the Convair 580 - meaning it is the official expert on the plane). •Sometime after those hearings, the five-member NTSB will officially release its conclusions as to the cause of the crash. It could also release recommendations to the interested parties, if the agency believes the same thing could happen again. The FAA implements a majority of NTSB recommendations. James Pilcher

SPORTS CENTER CLOSED

Florence police issued a reminder Saturday that the city's World of Sports Center on Woodspoint Drive is closed until Monday as officials investigate the crash of Air Tahoma Flight 185. A Convair 850 crashed on a fairway at the center's golf course early Friday morning. As a result, the course and the other facilities in the 68-acre complex have been sealed off, and parking is prohibited on Woodspoint and Houston Road. "We have had some people try to enter the site from the adjoining streets, and they have been turned away," Lt. Tim Chesser, the Florence police support services commander, said Saturday. "We are asking for voluntary compliance so that we can maintain the scene. "We are asking people not to stop or park on the roadways to observe the crash scene."

HEBRON - Federal investigators Saturday released details hinting at engine problems as the cause of the crash of a cargo plane near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport that killed the co-pilot early Friday.

But the investigators declined to speculate about why Air Tahoma Flight 185 fell from the sky just short of its intended runway. "It is still only a day and a half after the accident," said National Transportation Safety Board member Carol Carmody. "We have recovered quite a bit (of information), but we are not going to speculate on any possible causes."

She said that until its final minutes, all appeared normal as the plane - hauling freight from Memphis - made its final approach.

But investigators did say the crew can be heard on the cockpit voice recorder talking about low power from one and then both of the plane's turboprop engines. The engines were found at the crash site in a "low power position," although investigators would not elaborate.

The last radar contact with the plane, more than a mile south of the airport, showed it was moving at a normal landing speed for a Convair 580 before it crashed at 12:50 a.m. Friday on a Florence golf course just 1.2 miles short of Runway 36R.

On Saturday, company president Noel Rude confirmed the name of the dead co-pilot as Michael Ray Gelwicks, 36, of Southaven, Miss. Southaven is about 14 miles south of Memphis.

According to a check of the most recent federal database, Gelwicks was an instrument-rated commercial pilot who was qualified to fly multi-engine planes. He had a medical check-up in December and was due to receive another one in June, but the federal database was only available through April.

But Gelwicks only recently got his commercial pilot's license, having qualified only as a private pilot as recently as September 2001, according to federal databases.

Rude would not identify the surviving pilot and would not comment further on the crash or the investigation.

The pilot, who also is from the Memphis area, was able to walk away from the crash but was being treated Saturday at University Hospital for unspecified injuries. The hospital released no information Saturday on his condition.

The pilot was interviewed Friday, and NTSB officials intended to debrief him over the weekend.

Investigators said they had no indication which pilot was at the controls, or whether the plane was purposely landed on the golf course to avoid more developed areas adjacent to the course.

The doomed plane was built in 1967, a year before Convair ceased making the 580. Carmody also said that the plane was used primarily in Europe and had carried cargo its entire career.

In addition, the plane underwent a routine maintenance check Tuesday in Memphis. Investigators were still collecting other records on the plane, an effort made more difficult by the fact that Air Tahoma purchased the plane July 19.

The Columbus-based cargo-carrier contracts with DHL to carry freight between Cincinnati and three cities, including Memphis. DHL operates a major domestic freight hub at the Cincinnati airport.

Carmody said investigators were able to review a tape of the conversation between the pilots and air traffic controllers as well as the cockpit voice recorder recovered soon after the crash.

According to Carmody, the tapes showed that the approach to the airport was normal.

The plane received clearance to land at 12:44 a.m., with no sign of trouble.

Three minutes later, at 12:47 a.m., the pilots indicated they were having engine problems. The tower responded by asking if the pilots wanted emergency trucks to respond.

Carmody said the flight crew told the tower no, saying they indicated that they "were going straight."

At that point, the plane's altitude was 2,200 feet and its speed was 150 knots or about 173 mph.

The last radar contact was less than three minutes later, with the air speed at 110 knots or 127 mph and the altitude was 1,200 feet.

Carmody said that a preliminary investigation of the engines showed that they were at "low power," but she declined to characterize that further or whether the power level was normal for a landing.

But the Web site for Prop-Liners of America, a non-profit group based in Hartford, Conn., that exhibits and restores propeller-powered aircraft, lists the typical approach speed for a Convair 580 at 130 knots or 150 mph. It posts 110 knots as the landing speed.

The engines were sent to Indianapolis for further inspection by Allison Engines, which made the power plants and is now a part of Rolls-Royce.

Carmody said a preliminary review of the voice recorder indicated that the pilots had conversations about a minor control problem, fuel management, and "low power in one and then both of the engines."

She said both the voice and flight data recorders ceased operating just before impact.

The on-site investigation is expected to conclude Monday. After that, the probe will shift back to Washington with further analysis of the flight data and voice recorders.

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com