Pilot dismissed warnings before crash

ANGEL FIRE, N.M. (AP) - A preliminary report by federal investigators into the crash of a small plane in New Mexico that killed four people said the pilot was warned against taking off in windy conditions.

The single-engine plane crashed March 2 during takeoff from a northern New Mexico ski resort in Angel Fire, 150 miles northeast of Albuquerque. Winds were 55 mph at the time.

The plane was headed to Dallas-Fort Worth following a family ski trip. The crash killed three adults and a child, all from Texas.

The plane was registered to Verhalen Flyers in Scottsville, Texas - about 150 miles east of Dallas.

Authorities identified the four people killed in the crash as San Antonio aerospace engineer John Phillip Verhalen III, 33; his girlfriend, Jennifer Warren, 26; his sister, Sara Verhalen, 41; and her daughter, Chloe Marie Jameson, 13.

Airport manager Harvey Wright said Verhalen "felt comfortable with his abilities and the aircraft. And given as we are not policemen, we can't ask him for the keys."

Wright added that the airport "had all kinds of warnings posted on the front desk, plus we questioned the pilot as to whether he really wanted to go in that weather."

He said no other flights came in or left on the afternoon of the crash.

The recently released preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board said when Verhalen arrived at the fixed base operator, which provides services at the airport, "an employee from the FBO questioned the pilot's intent to fly in the windy weather. The pilot indicated that he planned to fly and that the winds would not be a problem."

According to the report, the pilot was given the current wind and altimeter readings as he was taxiing to the runway and repeated them back in acknowledgment.

Due to snow piles on the airfield, the FBO employee could not see the takeoff and next saw the airplane airborne with a significant crab angle into the wind, about 40 degrees right of the runway heading, the NTSB report said.

The unidentified employee said he saw the plane's wings rocking and then its right wing rise rapidly. "The airplane rolled left and descended inverted with the airplane's nose pointed straight down," the report said.