Additional details released in plane crash, no cause

Posted on April 6, 2017

Redbird Remembrance is on permanent display outside Redbird Arena in memory of the seven men who died in the April 6, 2015 plane crash. (Photo courtesy GoRedbirds.com)

By Greg Halbleib

BLOOMINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board has released more details of a plane crash that killed seven men near Bloomington two years ago, but has not yet released a probable cause.

The plane crashed east of Bloomington as it returned from Indianapolis where the six passengers attended the men’s college basketball national championship game. Killed in the crash were pilot Tom Hileman and passengers Scott Bittner, Andy Butler, Jason Jones, Aaron Leetch, Terry Stralow and Torrey Ward.

The latest NTSB report released Thursday, the two-year anniversary of the crash, indicates the aircraft was 366 pounds over its maximum landing weight of 6,750 pounds, and about four inches aft of its aft center of gravity limit. The report also shows surface visibility at Central Illinois Regional Airport was about two miles just before the flight left Indianapolis, but deteriorated to about a half-mile by the time the plane approached Bloomington. The NTSB also reports several nearby residents told investigators they were woken by an unusually loud and low airplane. The report estimates the Cessna twin-engine propeller aircraft still had 86 gallons of fuel on board.

No timetable was given for a final report.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].

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