A father and three of his sons died in a private plane crash on Oct. 25, 2010 after hitting a Wyoming mountain. The pilot, Luke Bucklin, 40, was the founder and CEO of Sierra Bravo, a small tech company. His sons, 14-year-old twins Nate and Nick and 12-year-old Noah, were also killed. They had been grounded by weather in Jackson Hole for a day and a half before attempting to return Minneapolis.
The plane took off shortly after 1 p.m. At 1:41 p.m. Bucklin reported that he was at 14,000 feet and encountering light chop, with a trace of rime icing on the wings. Shortly before 1:52 p.m. Bucklin told air traffic controllers he was unable to maintain altitude due to wind currents known as mountain wave activity. Michael Huhn, the NTSB’s lead investigator on the crash, said mountain wave activity involves a “large air mass moving like a wave” that can bring airplanes down.
The plane was last detected by radar at 13,300 feet; moments after Bucklin reported the wind currents. Following the loss of contact there was a frantic weeklong search, which ended with the discovery of the wreckage on the Wind River mountain range.
The pilot’s wife, Ginger Bucklin, described the week of searching as “incredibly painful…There were so many scenarios. There was a glimmer of hope that they were all safe, together and waiting to be found.”
Ginger Bucklin, and their youngest son Oliver, had flown home to Minnesota on a commercial airline the day before the rest of the family died in the crash.
The wreckage was found at an elevation of 11,100 feet and exhibited significant crush and impact damage. The airplane was a Mooney M20J that was manufactured in 1977 and first registered to Bucklin in January 2010. Bucklin held a pilot certificate and was rated to fly by instrumentation.
(Source(s): Minneapolis Star Tribune & National Transportation Safety Board)
To speak with an attorney about a fatal airplane crash, contact us today.
