By James Pilcher
Enquirer staff writer

FLORENCE - The pilot of an Air Tahoma cargo plane that slammed into a golf course on its landing approach early Friday remembers little about the crash, investigators said Sunday.

Representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board briefly interviewed the pilot of Air Tahoma Flight 185 at University Hospital. An NTSB spokesman said the discussion yielded only minimal information about the crash, which killed the co-pilot. The NTSB and Air Tahoma have refused to identify the pilot. The plane was carrying packages under contract to DHL.

Investigators also said they talked Sunday with air traffic controllers at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, trying to piece together a picture of what happened during the final minutes of Flight 185.

An NTSB team is expected to interview Air Tahoma officials today at the company's Columbus headquarters. A spokesman said the company's licensing and training records would be examined.

Meanwhile, the World of Sports golf course, site of the crash of the Convair 580, is expected to remain closed. The NTSB said it expects to move the remains of the fuselage to the airport for further examination today.

Investigators have been gathering up wreckage and packages strewn about when the plane came down in a clump of trees near a fairway just before 1 a.m. Friday. In addition to the debris, fuel spilled at the crash site also must be cleaned up.

Noel Rude, president of Air Tahoma, said Sunday that the company is working with the family of the co-pilot, Michael Ray Gelwicks, 36, to transport his body for burial. Rude said he expects to have a statement identifying the pilot today.

Gelwicks was killed when the twin-engine aircraft, on a routine flight from Memphis, apparently lost power on its approach to the airport and crashed about 1.2 miles short of the runway.

The aircraft's black-box recorders have been sent to Washington, D.C., for analysis and its engines are being loaded for shipment to manufacturer Allison Engines in Indianapolis.

A final report on why Flight 185 crashed could take months to develop.

---

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com