UNDATED (WTAQ) – A prelimnary report about the fatal plane crash in Door County in September 18 has been released.
16-year-old Olivia Dahl and 69-year-old Ralph Keller died in the crash.
The preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board does not indicate what may have caused the plane to hit trees and crash. It states:
“On September 18, 2016, about 2032 central daylight time, a Cessna 182T airplane, N2012F, impacted terrain during a visual approach to the Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport (3D2), Ephraim, Wisconsin. The pilot and student pilot were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to and operated by Keller Aviation LLC under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which departed from Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Airport (GRB), Green Bay, Wisconsin on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan at 2003.
According to friends of the pilot, he ferried the student pilot from 3D2 to GRB so she could take a flight lesson. On their return flight from GRB, the pilot cancelled IFR at 2024 during the descent into 3D2. About 3,500 ft prior to the Runway 14 threshold, the airplane impacted 50 ft high trees. The airplane came to rest about 210 ft beyond the initial tree strike and a post-crash fire ensued.”
A community celebration of life service for Dahl will be held on October 23 at Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church in Ellison Bay at 3 p.m.
