The pilot who perished along with three family members in a nighttime airplane crash near Canyonlands Regional Airport on Oct. 1, 2023, failed to use runway lights or monitor his instrument panel, which likely caused “spatial disorientation.”
The airplane’s landing gear struck a hill and traveled about 540 feet before it struck a second hill about a second later, according to the report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The impact killed the pilot Doug Larsen, who was a state senator from North Dakota; his wife, Amy, and two of their children, one who was alive when responders arrived, but died shortly afterwards. A third child was not onboard.
The NTSB revealed that Larsen didn’t use the “functioning runway lights” at the airport and immediately turned off the airplane’s landing lights after takeoff.
Investigators determined the airplane, a Piper Cherokee PA-28-140, was at low altitude when Larsen made a continuous 180-degree right turn that witnesses described as “steep and descending.”
Larsen received a weather briefing before taking off, but he didn’t get information on illumination or moonrise, according to NTSB. The moon has not risen at the time of the 8:24 p.m. accident.
Larsen’s failure to turn on the runway lights was cited as a key cause. “Eliminating this light source as a possible visual aid during departure,” played a role, according to NTSB. A local operator told NTSB investigators that their company pilots do not use the runway Larsen used at night due to dark conditions and the lack of visual references.
Turning off the landing light immediately after takeoff might have also played a role, according to NTSB, as it should remain on until the pilot’s climb is “well established.”
“It is likely that the pilot neither had adequate visual references after takeoff nor monitored the airplane’s flight instruments appropriately to detect the airplane’s descent during the continuous 180° crosswind to downwind turn. This likely led to the pilot experiencing spatial disorientation, resulting in controlled flight into terrain,” reads the report.
The Larsens were on their way back to North Dakota after visiting family in Scottsdale, Arizona.
