NTSB: Wind gust pushed floatplane into trees during fatal crash near Big Lake

PALMER — A passenger in a floatplane that crashed into a Mat-Su lake this month described gusty winds that pushed the plane into trees just after takeoff, according to a new federal investigative report.

Pilot Paul Spiro, 70, died in the Oct. 4 crash of his float-equipped Cessna 180 in East Butterfly Lake, about 10 miles from Big Lake. His passenger, described by authories as Spiro’s wife, suffered serious injuries.

She told investigators that “strong, gusty, variable wind conditions prevailed” just before Spiro began a takeoff run, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released last week. The plane was headed for Anchorage.

“During takeoff from the lake, as the airplane passed low over an area of tree-covered terrain, a sudden gust of wind pushed the airplane towards the trees,” lead investigator Mark Ward wrote. The plane’s right wing hit the trees and the plane came to rest upside down in the lake, partly submerged.

The crash occurred around 5:30 p.m., around the same time that gusty conditions increased as a weather front moved through. Wind-triggered power outages began to be reported in the nearby Houston area starting at 5 p.m., according to Matanuska Electric Association.

Weather data from the closest airport at Wasilla, about 17 miles away, indicated winds at about 17 mph gusting to just over 32 mph, according to the federal report.

The wreckage was recovered Tuesday and transported to Big Lake, according to Clint Johnson, NTSB Alaska chief. A meteorologist will be assigned to this investigation, which is standard procedure, he said.

“That meteorologist will be looking very closely at the front that was going through at the time,” Johnson said.