SAD NEWS FOR GLEN HELEN FAMILY: Feldkamp Family Devastated By Montana Air Crash; Our Prayers Are With Them
SAD NEWS FOR GLEN HELEN FAMILY: FELDKAMP FAMILY DEVASTATED BY MONTANA AIR CRASH; OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH THEM
MXA has confirmed that the family of Glen Helen Raceway owner Bud Feldkamp was on the Pilatus PC-12 that crashed in Montana over the weekend. Two of Bud's daughters, Vanessa and Amy, and four grandkids were on the plane. As many as nine members of the Feldkamp family were lost in the accident. Bud Feldkamp was not on board the plane. Family members said the victims were Erin and Amy Jacobson of St.
Helena, Calif., and their children, 4-year-old Taylor; 3-year-old Ava,
and 1-year-old Jude; Michael and Vanessa Pullen of Lodi, Calif., and
their children, 9-year-old Sydney and 7-year-old Christopher; Brent and
Kristen Ching of Durham, Calif., and their children, 5-year-old Heyley
and 4-year-old Caleb; and the pilot, Buddy Summerfield.
Amy Jacobson and
Vanessa Pullen were Bud Feldkamp's daughters.
Vanessa Pullen was a pediatrician, Michael Pullen was a dentist, Erin
Jacobson was an opthalmologist and Amy Jacobson was a dental hygienist.
Brent Ching was an orthopedic surgeon.
The
Associated Press reported today that seven adults and seven children
were aboard. There was speculation that the children may have been on a
skiing trip.
The flight originated in Redlands, California, and made stops in Vacaville and
Oroville in Northern California, according to FlightAware.com, a
Web-based aviation tracking system. The plane came down about 500 feet
short of the runway in Butte, Montana, nose-diving in Holy Cross Cemetery shortly after 3
p.m. local time.
The original flight plan called for the plane to land in Bozeman,
Montana, but the pilot made a last-minute diversion to Butte for unknown
reasons, FAA spokesman Les Dorr said. The plane was a Pilatus PC-12, a
single-engine, turbo-prop aircraft that is usually configured to carry
nine people, Dorr said.
But it can carry 12 passengers. Although it might seem that the plane was over-loaded with 14 people, seven of the passengers were kids, five of them under the age of five. Their small size and weight would not contribute enough to put a plane as powerful as a PC-12 in danger (plus the plane had no issues on take-off where weights and balances play the biggest role). Given that the plane made a diversion to Butte, it is possible that they had an in-flight mechanical issue or icing that required them to seek the nearest airport big enough to handle the Pilatus.
Bud Feldkamp's Pilatus PC-12.
MXA has some experience with the Pilatus PC-12 because Bud gave Jody the plane to fly to the Colorado National two years ago (as a perk for designing the Glen Helen National track). According to Jody, a pilot with over 1000 hours in variety of aerobatic-type airplanes, Feldkamp's PC-12 was well maintained and equipped with radar, weather scope and a complete glass cockpit. On the Colorado trip, the plane was configured for eight passengers and Bud's personal pilot, Bud Summerfield (known to everyone as "Air Bud" ), who had over 2000 hours in a PC-12, guided Jody through the intricacies of flying the $3,450,000 Swiss-built turboprop. As fellow pilots, MXA (which has several license pilots on staff) is heartbroken by the loss to the Feldkamps.
Godspeed.
Dr. Bud Fedlkamp (front) with Karl Scanlon and Tom White during happier times.
