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NTSB: Nemacolin Woodlands Resort fatal plane crash result of cabin door opening | TribLIVE.com
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NTSB: Nemacolin Woodlands Resort fatal plane crash result of cabin door opening

Paul Peirce
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Steph Chambers | Trib Total Media
Police and NTSB workers survey the wreckage on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, from a plane crash that killed two people Friday at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington.
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Steph Chambers | Trib Total Media
Managing director Monte Hansen speaks to the media about a plane crash that killed two people on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2015, at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington.
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Steph Chambers | Trib Total Media
Police and NTSB workers survey the wreckage on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, from a plane crash that killed two people Friday at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington.

The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that a 2015 plane crash that killed three Maryland men at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Fayette County was the result of a front cabin door opening during takeoff, causing the small aircraft to stall.

In addition, federal investigators ruled that Terry Carlson, 68, of Kensington, Md., the pilot and owner of the Beechcraft BE 36 single-engine plane, likely was under the influence of an amphetamine, “which could have caused palpitations of fainting, resulting in the pilot's loss of control of the plane.”

“Although the pilot was attempting to return to land as prescribed ... following a door opening event, he did not safely manage the airplane's airspeed and angle of attack and lost control of the plane,” the NTSB said in a report recently made public.

Carlson's 27-year-old son, Erick, of Rockville, Md., who accompanied his father on the trip, died a day after the Dec. 11, 2015, crash at UPMC Mercy Trauma and Burn Center in Pittsburgh. Jason Willems, 26, of Silver Spring, Md., also died in the crash.

Terry Carlson was a managing director and Willems was a consultant at Capital Edge, a consulting firm based in Reston, Va., that has offices in Sewickley, Allegheny County, as well as Denver and San Diego. It provides consulting services to private companies that contract government agencies.

The crash occurred at 2:55 p.m. in a heavily wooded section of Wharton Township, where the resort is located. The plane had left from the airstrip, and witnesses said it caught fire upon impact. Torn metal was strewn over a large area of rough terrain near one of the resort's golf courses.

“Regardless of the reason the door opened in flight, the airplane should have remained airworthy and controllable,” the NTSB report states.

Toxicology tests indicated that Terry Carlson was under the influence of an amphetamine used in the treatment of attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy that was “well above any therapeutic range,” federal investigators said.

In addition, phenylpropanolamine, which used to be popular as an over-the-counter decongestant and appetite suppressant, was detected in Carlson's urine. The NTSB investigators noted the drug hasn't been available in the United States since 2000 due to an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke in women, but it remains available as a veterinary medicine.Investigators said the combination of a thick heart wall and significant levels of amphetamine in Carlson's system could have caused a sudden heart arrhythmia, “resulting in the pilot's loss of the airplane.”

“Such an event would not have left evidence that could be identified on autopsy,” investigators said.

As for the cabin door opening, investigators said Erick Carlson told firefighters at the scene that it opened “just after takeoff.”

Investigators said in the report the forward cabin door's upper latching mechanism was not fully extended in the wreckage.

The report noted Carlson was a veteran pilot certified by the Federal Aviation Administration. Pilots who receive this certification must pass a written and physical exam and have at least 1,500 hours of flight experience.

When investigators interviewed Carlson's widow in the weeks after the crash, she said her husband had served in Vietnam and had flown “Hueys” for the Army, and afterward in the National Guard for several years.

“Her husband loved flying and was very experienced. She advised that they had the ‘door light' come on a few times before and that the door was

hard to latch,” the NTSB report said.

Family members could not be reached for comment Monday.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@tribweb.com or via Twitter @ppeirce_trib.