FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – More information has been learned about a Jacksonville plane that crashed into the Everglades last month.
The twin engine airplane, operated by Spohrer & Dodd Aviation LLC, crashed in western Broward County while it was carrying two local attorneys and a pilot. Last week we learned a pilot who saved the attorneys died after receiving multiple injuries from the crash.
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The pilot, Jim Townsend, was trapped in the cockpit after the firm's twin-engine airplane crashed in western Broward County. He had to be cut out of the wreckage.
Robert Spohrer, founding partner of Spohrer & Dodd, and Steven Browning, another partner in the firm, were treated and released after the crash near U.S. Highway 27 in the Everglades. They both escaped without serious injury.
"We were descending rapidly. The gear was not down and we were going to be hitting off the field," Spohrer (pictured) said. "I told Steve, 'Tighten your seat belt as tight as you can, get into a braced position.' As soon as the plane stops moving, we're going to get out of this emergency exit. He and I were our on the wing, immediately, essentially uninjured, miraculously. Our concern was Jim Townsend, our pilot, and trying to extricate him from the wreckage. He had broken legs, we couldn't get him out. He was trapped by instruments so we were unable to get him out of the plane until rescue arrived and cut the roof off the plane."
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Townsend was in a hospital in South Florida where he died. The law firm flew Townsend's family to Fort Lauderdale and were doing whatever they could to help. Spohrer said it was some type of in-flight emergency and the way the Townsend responded saved their lives.
"When you look at the images of the wreckage, it's pretty incredible that … the two of us were essentially uninjured," Spohrer said.
News4Jax got a look at the preliminary report released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board and they're calling the crash a forced landing.
But aviation expert Ed Booth said the latest report released by NTSB raises more questions than answers.
"They're going to look at medical issues. They're certainly going to want to look at the engine some more and find out what happened there," Booth said. "(The pilot's) comments of the air-traffic control just don't make any sense to me as a pilot: 'I can't find the airport -- where is the airport?' So NTSB has a lot of work to do."
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After reviewing the newest report of the crash, Booth said one of the many variables NTSB will be looking into is whether the pilot was somehow incapacitated based on the comments he made to air traffic control.
According to the report, the plane was fully fueled when it departed from Herlong Airport. But the pilot had to make a quick landing at Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport to fix a cockpit window that wasn't sealed.
Then, as Townsend and the crew made their way south, the report states the pilot had trouble finding Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, and he told the tower he might have to land on a highway.
"The evidence suggests that one of the engines may have failed in flight or this airplane is capable of flying on one engine," Booth said. "And it does appear that one of the engines continued to operate. Why he felt to land where he did, why he couldn't find the airport, it's something you really can't speculate right now."
Townsend, who lived in Yulee and regularly flew for the firm, was praised for his skill avoiding a bigger tragedy.
"He brought the airplane down under control with the wings leveled and utilized expendable parts of the airplane such as the wings and the engine to absorb energy and left the passenger compartment intact, so he deserves a tremendous amount of credit," Booth said.
"Once that emergency occurred, he did an incredible job of keeping the airplane under control, picking a place to try and put it down, and then keeping the aircraft flying until the very last second," Spohrer said.
A funeral service for Townsend will be held Thursday.
The National Transportation Safety Board continues investigating the cause of the crash.