A prominent TV meteorologist and YouTuber from Boise, Idaho, was killed along with passenger Dallin Laufenberg when the Carbon Cub, which is owned by CubCrafters, hit power lines and crashed onto the ice-covered Black Canyon Reservoir on the Payette River north of Boise on Tuesday. Roland Steadham was apparently flying the Carbon Cub on loan from the company as part of a promotional program in which CubCrafters provides the airplane to social media influencers. The other person on the plane has not been identified. The accident took out power to a large area of southern Idaho for most of the day. CubCrafters issued the following statement:
“CubCrafters is aware of a tragic aircraft accident that occurred today in Idaho involving a Carbon Cub aircraft owned by the company and loaned to a private individual. We were deeply saddened to learn that the accident resulted in two fatalities. Our hearts go out to the families, friends, and loved ones of those who lost their lives. We extend our deepest sympathy during this incredibly difficult time. CubCrafters is cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities as they conduct a thorough investigation. Out of respect for those affected and for the investigative process, we will not speculate on the circumstances surrounding the accident. Safety has always been a core value at CubCrafters. We take matters like this with the utmost seriousness and are committed to supporting the investigation in any way possible.”
Steadham had already posted a 14-minute video of a flight he took in the aircraft as part of that program.
CubCrafters VP Brad Damm posted a tribute on Facebook, calling Steadham “an aviator in every sense” and “a steady hand, a calm voice, and a presence that made everyone around them better and safer.” Steadham often incorporated his love of flying into his weathercasts on the Boise CBS affiliate. The station issued a statement calling him “a beloved member of this community” with a large extended family. “Roland was widely respected as an accomplished pilot. He shared his love of flying with the community. Roland operated a small aircraft out of Emmett. It was a hobby he enjoyed and often would share stories about local pilots and their accomplishments.”
As one who lost a friend due to a collision with a new, and unmarked, power wire over a river in rural Canada, my heart goes out to Steadham’s family and friends. This sort of accident is almost always fatal. The federal government should mandate that any wire, cable, tower, or other new structure penetrating legal airspace be required to be prominently marked. We can’t depend on the glacial response of the charting service (or even NOTAMs) to warn of such dangers.
I don’t know if the wire that took down Steadnam’s plane was running power to the lone house in the photo, but that was exactly the case in my friend’s death. It was in a very rural area of the river where he had flown often, and no obstruction had existed before.
It is incumbent on those erecting such threats to provide ample warning of them.
So every power line in the country should be marked just because people choose to risk their lives flying low?
If you’re going to fly low enough to hit a power line, you need to be aware and accept the consequences.
Proper ADM would be to fly any route at a safe altitude prior to flying at an altitude where you can kill an innocent passenger, ss happened here.
People who choose to fly a couple of hundred feet off the ground (an increasing activity) continue to put GA in a bad light.
I often wonder when reading stories like this if the foreflight app I use would call out a hazard like this. I spent a career in low altitude high speed flight and the published routes we flew were well surveyed. That was well before GPS and other improvements to situational awareness. Flying low in a single engine GA airplane without purpose is opening up a litany of risks that few fully appreciate.
RIP
I just checked and ForeFlight clearly shows in bold red color some power lines crossing that reservoir in 2 different places- so, yes.
Wouldn’t have helped here but I have a feeling that many don’t turn on the notam layer in FF maps page.
A simple question that I’ve always wondered about: What is the official method/system for determining whether a given canyon flying route at some number of feet AGL is going to be safely above any power lines or cables (whether they are marked or not)?
For IFR on airways, we have MEA’s and MOCA’s.
For tall towers, we have mandatory markings on sectional maps and MAF’s (maximum elevations figures).
If there’s no such method or system for power lines & cables, there needs to be, as is made obvious by this and many other such tragedies.
If there is such a method, what it it?
Asking around at the local FBO doesn’t seem like a reliable answer…
His FAA pilot database entry says his last medical certificate required him to WEAR (not just possess) corrective lenses for both near and distant vision while flying. Of course, that’s for his long-expired Second Class medical, and he’s been flying on Basic Med which has no specific vision requirements. However, the Basic Med form says the physician “SHOULD CONSIDER” the requirements in the FAA AME Guide, which include a minimum 20/40 vision requirement for the least restrictive medical certificate.
In the linked video from an earlier flight, he’s not wearing glasses so I have to assume he wears contact lenses, as i do. But as I learned trying multifocsl contact lenses they don’t do a very good job of correcting both near and distant vision, which is why I, who had the same restriction on my Second Class, went to distant vision lenses and wear reading glasses while flying. Another theoretical option would be monovision contacts which correct one eye for distance and the other for near vision, but the FAA prohibits their use in flight for several reasons an ophthalmologist can explain.
So, I’m wondering just what sort of corrective lenses he was wearing on the accident flight, and whether it was a suboptimal solution which affected his ability to see and avoid those wires.
And any of you out there reaching the age where both near and distant correction become required (and as the Bard of Avon pointed out, “Age doth make presbyopics of us all”), I strongly recommend you have a long talk with an aviation-savvy eye doc about your best options.
Jeez it’s time for the aeromedical armchair judges and juries and he’s not even cold yet!
I know guys flying widebodies whose ‘Medicals’ consist of fogging a mirror and wee wee-ing into a cup, after waddling up the stairs to Dr. Santa Claus AME’s office- so who gives a damn if he was Basic Med or just passed a Mercury astronaut physical?
I had 20/15 vision for my first 30 years of flying, including hundreds of hours doing pipeline patrol, and I found unmarked power lines a copper plated bitch to spot. They are nearly impossible to see from any distance!
If you don’t see the towers/poles the lines are hung from, it’s a coin toss that you’ll avoid them if you’re flying low.
He could have gotten distracted with an engine fire, a spun bearing or a bird strike for all we know, too.
So please do us a favor and pipe down with unfounded speculation and innuendo, out of respect for the dead.
This appears to be the same spot as the photo from the article: https://maps.app.goo.gl/BEe2UXVvw5fzsAq57
The power line is in the Google Maps Street View, so it has been there awhile.
There is also a set of high voltage lines further west. Unclear which were hit, but that is two sets of lines crossing the canyon.
He died with his boots on, at least.
And took his passenger with him. Not the sort of legacy this old pilot wants to leave.
Wow – that linked video is just eery…
“Carbon Crafters came up with the idea giving a carbon Cub to YouTubers and putting them on the carbon Cub insurance. The only requirement is they don’t hurt the plane or themselves.”
Gonna suck for Carbon Cub insurance rates
That is just too bizarre.
I really get value from these debriefs. The moral of the story seems to be that even if you know that there are no power lines across a valley you still should not fly up a valley unless you need to, and after you have done a thorough search from above the valley. You also do need the best possible distance vision otherwise you will not be able to spot the power poles/pylons. I value the comments here, too. It is necessary to critique the dead lest we join them. Thanks.
I agree. A thoughtful comment on this bad outcome. Altitude is your friend as long as you can see something other than cloud out front.
This could be “el-finito” for CubCrafters, once the trial lawyers get done with them. A “semi-sanctioned” sales and marketing project gone bad.
In these wire/power line strike crashes I see people talking about how lines should be marked ad nauseam. I think as PIC you need to realize that sometimes flying low for the fun of it is an unnecessary risk, especially if you are not familiar with the area/haven’t scouted the area first at a higher altitude. So you think markers are necessary, good. What if the line was marked and the sun was in your eyes for a few seconds at the wrong time, or a recent storm took a few of the markers off and that’s the area you’re flying through/looking at? Flying low and looking for the markers isn’t a sure thing, flying above the lines is.
I looked at the VFR sectional and this area is marked with multiple power lines, it’s definitely an area that warrants caution. Looking at google earth there are several crossings of the river before and after where the ADS-B track ends. I want to know which set of lines the accident aircraft ran into, judging by the photo of the wreckage on the frozen river, and the shape of the ADS-B track and descent rate, I don’t think the end of the track is the crash itself, but maybe a descending turn to either double back and fly back up the river, or part of an S turn to line up with the river and continue down toward two more sets of power lines which I was able to spot on google earth.
A couple minutes after the descending turn and end of the track a single report shows a position west, back up the river. The house that is in the photo is visible on google earth near the creek and street view as is the approximate location of the wreckage in the photo. It supports my thought that the accident aircraft doubled back, flew along the river toward the power lines marked on the VFR sectional, and hit them.