Air Traffic Control Lost Contact With Pilot Just Before Fatal Crash West of Billings Airport

More details have been released in the preliminary report of a plane crash that killed a 64-year-old Billings pilot, although a cause of the crash has not been released.

On April 20, Lloyd Gerber, 64, of Billings, died in an airplane crash at about 10 a.m. a mile and a half west of Billings Logan International Airport. He was flying a Piper PA-31 seven-seat airplane and was performing landings and takeoffs.

Gerber was pronounced dead at the scene at the Rod and Gun Club, according to Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder.

According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board:

Air Traffic Control lost contact with Gerber almost immediately after he took off from a runway in the airport and Air Traffic Control asked Gerber to enter a left traffic pattern for another runway.

About 90 seconds later Gerber had already crashed and a column of smoke could be seen, according to the report.

Before the plane crashed, it climbed to about 100 feet above ground level and then its speed began decreasing. After takeoff, the airplane was traveling at a speed of about 81 knots, or 93 miles per hour, before dipping to about 80 miles per hour.

Witnesses saw the airplane descending slowly before crashing. The plane first crashed onto the ground before it hit the side of a coulee at the Rod and Gun Club.

It can take a year or more after a crash for the NTSB to release its full findings. A second report with more facts will likely be released about 18 months after the crash.

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