N22HP Citation 550 fatal crash, Dillon, Montana


Jet crash kills two at Dillon
By Nick Gevock, of The Montana Standard - 05/04/2007
A Chicago businessman who owned a ranch near Twin Bridges and his passenger were killed Thursday morning when the small jet they were flying crashed while trying to land at the Beaverhead County Airport at Dillon.

Allan Hamilton and John Wauterlek, both residents of Illinois, died at the scene of the accident, Beaverhead County Coroner Ron Briggs said late Thursday.

Hamilton was flying his Cessna Citation 550 twin-engine jet around 10:40 a.m. when he lost control and crashed in a farm field just east of the airport, Beaverhead County Sheriff Jay Hansen said in a press release. The airplane exploded on impact, the sheriff said.

The plane was flying into Dillon from Rockford, Ill., which is near Chicago, according to the flight plan Hamilton had filed, Hansen said.

When Dillon city/county firefighters arrived with five vehicles, the plane only had small flames coming from it, Fire Chief Scott Marsh said in a telephone interview.

The initial impact burned all the fuel that was on the airplane, he said.

Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration arrived on the scene Thursday afternoon to determine the cause of the crash. They were to be joined in the evening by officials with the National Transportation Safety Board who were on route, Hansen said.

Rain and heavy snow fell off and on throughout the morning in Dillon, making visibility difficult at times. But investigators were still working on the case to pinpoint what went wrong.

Hamilton was a principal in Hamilton Partners, a Chicago area real estate firm with large holdings of commercial and residential properties in the metropolitan area.

He grew up in Columbia Falls and graduated from high school in 1955 and Northwestern University in 1959. He was a Navy aviator until 1965. He had owned the Twin Bridges ranch for over 15 years.

The community of Twin Bridges was stunned upon hearing of Hamiltons death, said Carol Giem, a local rancher. She said Hamiltons generosity and sense of community made him popular in the area.

Twin Bridges will be reeling from this for a long time, she said.

Reporter Nick Gevock may be reached via email at nick.gevock@mtstandard.com. By Nick Gevock of The Montana Standard

flightaware.com/live/flight/N22HP

[ FAA ]](http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/accident_incident/preliminary_data/events06/media/01_22HP.txt) FAA preliminary report

genav.com/aircraftforSale/Ci … -0103.html

Also, see HERE.

:frowning: Thank you for the post. They were friends.

Really bad deal, Mr. Hamilton seemed like he was always in Dillon and considered a friend by many of the local pilots and residents. He was very intelligent and always had a smile on his face. He will be missed. Never in my many times of witnessing him fly in and out of Dillon did he ever attempt to show off or fly at a level that would indicate a lack of professionalism. My condolances to everyone effected by this disaster.

My family has been flying, and some of them renowned for it, since the 1930’s. I don’t think I have ever known a more careful pilot than Allan. He didn’t take risks when by himself, much less with someone else. I have never known a more moral man nor one that displayed such a selfless belief in others.

NTSB: Pilot was trying instrument landing in overcast skies
The Associated Press

DILLON The pilot of a small jet that crashed last week near the airport here was trying to make an instrument landing in overcast skies and came down at a steep angle, but federal officials have not determined the cause of the fatal crash.

Allan Hamilton, who was flying his Cessna Citation 550 from Rockford, Ill., to Dillon Thursday morning, radioed the air-port minutes before he crashed, said Howard Plagens, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.

He had to come down through an overcast to get down, Plagens said.

Investigators are a long way from determining the cause of the crash that killed Hamilton, 69, and Mark Wauterlek, 30. The plane crashed in a field about 300 yards east of the runway at the Beaverhead County Airport.

Plagens and two specialists with Cessna spent Friday combing through the charred wreckage.

Were just looking at the ground scars, he said Friday. Were just documenting where we find things and well sit down and talk about it later.

He said a preliminary report would be released in five days and a final report within a year.

Evidence at the crash site, including a lack of skid marks, indicates the plane came down at a steep angle, he said.

Hamilton had installed a cockpit voice recorder that was sent to Washington, D.C. for analysis and could be the most help-ful clue in the investigation, Plagens said.

If we get a good recording it could be a key element in it, he said. We never know until we listen.

The airplane did not include a flight data recorder.

Investigators don’t know what caused plane crash;

Associated Press - December 3, 2008 8:24 AM ET

BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - Federal investigators say they can’t determine the specific cause of a 2007 plane crash in Dillon, Montana, that killed two Illinois men, but they say icing on the plane could have played a role.

Sixty-9-year-old Allan Hamilton was flying his Cessna Citation 550 from Rockford (Illinois) on May 3, 2007, when he crashed while trying to land during a storm. The crash also killed Hamilton’s business associate, 30-year-old John “Mark” Wauterlek.

An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board says the accident was caused by “an in-flight loss of control for undetermined reasons.”

Hamilton was a self-made millionaire who lived in Illinois and owned a large ranch near Twin Bridges, Montana, that bore his name.

ASN Report on accident

FAA report