LUDINGTON, MI (WTVB) – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the probable cause of the November 2023 plane crash that killed an Angola couple was the presence of ice and snow on the aircraft’s wings at takeoff.
60-year-old, Randy Strebig, and his wife 43-year-old, Allison Wheaton, both certified pilots, died along with their two dogs when their single-engine Socata TBM-700 crashed shortly after departing from the Mason County Airport near Ludington, Michigan.
The NTSB final report, released nearly two years after the accident, concluded that Strebig’s decision to take off under the prevailing weather conditions led to an aerodynamic stall and the subsequent crash.
The couple was returning to Indiana after visiting family for Thanksgiving when the incident occurred on the morning of November 26, 2023.
The NTSB investigation found the plane had been rolled out of an unheated hangar into falling snow before the flight. Witnesses reported the plane was flying low and in a sharp left bank before it disappeared behind trees and crashed into a grassy area about a quarter-mile from the airport.
The area was covered in mud and snow, and weather reports at the time indicated limited visibility due to the snow. The final report details how the contamination on the wings disrupted the airflow necessary for lift, causing the aircraft to stall at an altitude too low to recover.
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