PILOT ERROR BLAMED IN REPO CRASH

By Doug Wilson

Herald-Whig Senior Writer

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board say pilot error led to a fatal crash while a foreign military jet was being repossessed on behalf of a Quincy company last year.

Stephen Freeman, 32, of San Diego was flying too low and didn't follow instrument landing procedures, according to NTSB staff. The jet Freeman was piloting lost power, and Freeman died after ejecting at low altitude Jan. 25, 2006. The L-39 Albatros military jet crashed in Ketchikan, Alaska, causing minor injuries to five people on the ground.

The NTSB report indicated Freeman hit the water in the Tongass Narrows moments before the crash. The plane bounced off the water repeatedly with the landing gear down. A Ketchikan flight specialist radioed Freeman to abort his landing after hearing from another pilot that Freeman was over water.

Investigators say water damaged the jet's engine, causing it to lose power.

Don Kirlin of Air USA, a Quincy company, employed Freeman and helped prepare the Czech-built jet for flight when he and a team repossessed four planes that were being bought by Security Aviation Inc. of Anchorage and Palmer, Alaska.

Security Aviation has sued Air USA over the incident, and Kirlin also is suing Security Aviation.

Kirlin said Tuesday he could not comment on the situation because of pending court action. He directed calls to a mechanic who previously worked for Security Aviation and helped Kirlin with repossession of the jets.

John Berens, former chief mechanic for Security Aviation's L-39 Albatros program, said NTSB reports indicate that Freeman told air controllers the jet was icing up as much as 19 minutes before the crash. Berens believes that might have contributed to the plane hitting the water.

Berens said the main parachute did not have a chance to engage because Freeman ejected at a low angle after directing the plane toward a gravel parking lot.

Kirlin and Berens said Security Aviation has consistently misrepresented the repossession as a theft of the airplanes.