Luke Bucklin cockpit audio confirms "mountain wave" crash
Minneapolis pilot Luke Bucklin can be heard struggling to gain altitude because of treacherous mountain winds before his plane crashed, in newly released cockpit voice recordings.
Bucklin's plane was battered by bad weather.
He was trying to push the single-engine plane up to 16,000 feet in order to cross the range, but radioed air traffic controllers that he was having problems.
The audio obtained by AP confirms what the National Transportation Safety Board said in November: "Mountain wave" winds forced his aircraft to crash in the remote Wind River mountain range of Wyoming after taking off from Jackson Hole on Oct. 25.
Bucklin, 40, was CEO at Sierra Bravo, a website and interactive development company in Bloomington.
Three of children also died in the crash: His 14-year-old twins Nate and Nick were students at Southwest High School, and 12-year-old son Noah attended Susan B. Anthony Middle School. The plane and its passengers were recovered a week after the crash.
Related:
- Luke Bucklin of Sierra Bravo, 3 kids, missing over Wyoming
- Weak signal heard from Luke Bucklin's plane
- Bucklin plane wreckage found with no survivors
- NTSB: Bucklin plane struggled against "mountain wave" wind
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