Brookings County, SD News.....Gov. Mickelson Killed In Plane Crash April 21, 199
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Maquoketa Sentinel-Press April 21, 199


    Maquoketa Sentinel-Press
    April 21, 1993

    South Dakota Governor Killed in Crash
    Plane hits silo near Otter Creek
    By Sheri Melvold

    Federal Aviation Administration investigators were inspecting the scene
early Tuesday morning, April 20 of a fiery plane crash which killed eight,
including the governor of South Dakota on a farm, 14 miles north of Maquoketa.

    There was no one at the Merle and Lynn Ambrosy farm when the twin engine
plane exploded as it hit one of two silos adjacent to a barn about 4 p.m. The
farm is located about 14 miles north of Maquoketa just off Highway 61 in section
14 of Otter Creek Township.

    Although the eight bodies have not been identified, the governor’s office
released the list of passengers and pilots scheduled to be on the plane. There
were no survivors.

    The list includes Gov. George S. Mickelson, Roland Dolly, Pierre, South
Dakota’s state economic development commissioner; Ron Reed, Pierre, the state’s
energy policy commissioner and formerly state economic development commissioner;
Dave Birkeland; Sioux Falls, president and chief executive officer of First Bank
of South Dakota; Angus Anson, Sioux Falls, general manager in South Dakota for
Northern States Power Co. and Roger Hainje, Sioux Falls, president of the Sioux
Falls Development Foundation. Pilots were Ron Becker and Dave Hansen.

    The plane, a Mitsubishi MU-2, a turboprop corporate-style, was enroute to
South Dakota from Cincinnati, Ohio where the group had been working on officials
to keep open the Morrell plant in Sioux Falls.

    Sandra Campbell of the Federal Administration office in Kansas City told the
Sentinel-Press, Tuesday morning, that investigators may be in the area for up to
the end of the week.

    She said it was too early to tell how big a factor weather played in the
accident. According to an official weather observation taken at 4:08 p.m.,
minutes after the accident, the sky was overcast with a cloud level at 200 feet.
Visibility was 1 ½ miles with light rain and fog.

    The plane left Lunkin Airport in Cincinnati bound for Sioux Falls and
Pierre. Exact time of departure wasn’t available. The FAA’s Chicago radar center
was tracking the plane.

    At about 3:45 p.m., the control tower at Dubuque Regional Airport was
contacted by the Chicago center, to notify Dubuque of an emergency and
requesting that an ambulance and other emergency equipment be alerted.

    The pilot had reported one engine out and decompression and had asked the
nearest airport to make an emergency landing. The pilot was advised to land in
Dubuque. He reported that he was at 2,700 feet altitude and could not hold
altitude and wasn’t sure he could make it to Dubuque, she said.

    At that point, the Chicago center reported losing the aircraft on radar. A
few moments later, however, the pilot contacted the Dubuque tower, she said. The
tower told the pilot all the runway lights were turned on to full intensity and
emergency vehicles were on their way. The tower advised the pilot of wind
information and the altimeter reading and cleared him to land on runway 31 to
the northwest.

    The pilot acknowledged that information and asked how far from the airport
he was, Campbell said. He was told that he had been lost on radar and was asked
whether he had distance-measuring equipment onboard. The pilot responded,
“Yeah,” That was the final transmission received from the aircraft, Campbell said.

    Campbell said the final radio contact occurred at 3:52 p.m., seven minutes
after the Dubuque tower was notified of the emergency.

    Tuesday morning, Dr. Thomas Bennett, Iowa medical examiner and Dr. Paul
Koob, Jackson County medical examiner, were conducting autopsies and identifying
remains of the victims at Jackson County Public Hospital.

    Koob said at midmorning, positive identification and a cause of death had
not been established for any of the victims.

    “Basically, there were two causes – multiple injuries from the impact or
death due to the fire. It’ll probably be the end of the day before we’ll know
for sure,” he said.

    He said seven of the victims “were burned so badly we’ll need dental
records” to identify them.

    Koob said seven of the eight victims remained in the plane when it crashed
and one was thrown clear.




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