Experts Finish Study of Reno Air Crash Site

RENO —  Having finished their search for clues in the wreckage, federal investigators probing the crash of a Galaxy Airlines Lockheed Electra that killed 68 people returned to Washington on Monday.

The removal of the investigating team followed announcement of the identity of the final victim by the Washoe County coroner and the announcement by Galaxy Airlines President Phillip Sheridan that the airline was flying again after safety inspections of its remaining planes.

The National Transportation Safety Board team decided to shift its investigation to the laboratory, chief investigator Rudy Kasputin said. The safety board will seek to explain why Flight 203 crashed and exploded moments after taking off from Reno Cannon International Airport Jan. 21. The four-engine turboprop was returning a charter group to Minnesota from a weekend gambling junket in Nevada.

Kasputin said the effort to determine the cause of the crash would have been easier had the plane been equipped with a modern flight data recorder.

The aircraft’s obsolete recorder malfunctioned, and even if it had not it would have supplied only meager information compared to that available from a newer one, he said.

The 14-member investigative team will now rely on factory specialists and laboratory technicians, Kasputin said.

Sheridan, who grounded the firm’s other two Electras--both cargo planes--said the Federal Aviation Administration had completed full inspections “to its satisfaction” and had cleared the planes.