Plane Crash Raises Questions about Craig Municipal Airport Navigation System

[Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

February 19, 2004

Plane Crash Raises Questions about Airport Navigation
System
WJXX, FL

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The family of a pilot killed on
Thanksgiving morning wants the government to pay for
the crash. 

The First Coast News I-team has uncovered a document
filed against the Federal Aviation Administration that
questions the safety of a navigation system at a local
airport. 

Last Thanksgiving, Dr. Swanson and his four children
were flying from their home in Beaumont, Texas, to
Jacksonville to visit relatives. But their plane never
made it. It was foggy out, and the plane crashed while
on approach to Craig Field. 

"Immediately everybody thought that everybody was
killed. It was beyond a nightmare," said George's
brother, Dr. Richard Swanson.

George Swanson was killed. His children survived. The
National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, says
the pilot was advised that the weather conditions were
below landing standards. Swanson was told to land the
plane elsewhere. Instead, he choose to land at Craig
Airport. 

The I-team obtained a claim to the FAA about the
Instrument Landing System, or ILS, used at Craig
Field. The claim filed by the Swanson estate seeks
more than 25 million dollars.

His brother Richard told First Coast News, "There is
no way that he would take a risk with his children in
his plane. There's no way he would jeopardize his
family."

NTSB investigators say air traffic controllers were in
place to help the plane land safely. But the family's
attorney, Don Maciejewski of the law firm Zisser,
Robison, Brown, Nowlis and Maciejewski, says there was
something wrong with Craig's Airport's ILS.

Maciejewski told First Coast News, "There is a
question whether the ILS system was functioning
properly and giving Doctor Swanson the proper
information because he was getting, as far as we know,
a correct on-slope, on-glide path reading."

But Doctor Swanson's family says the veteran pilot
wouldn't have ignored this information. His brother
Richard says, "I don't believe that he knew that he
was in any danger or that there wasn't anything to
alert people to."

We spoke to a local pilot who flies in and out of
Craig Field on a regular basis. He's trained hundreds
of pilots on the Instrument Landing System and says
he's never known about any problems with it. 

The FAA had no comment regarding the claim against it.
If the case is not settled, the family of Doctor
Swanson plans to file a lawsuit against the FAA. The
NTSB is still investigating the crash.

So just how does the ILS work? When there's bad
weather, navigational information is given to pilots
by radio. The ILS helps them align their plane with a
runway. it tells them when their plane is too far
right, or left or if it's too high or low. The ILS is
used at many airports across the country.



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