San Rafael plane crash report cites preliminary findings
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the deadly crash, but it says the carburetor might have iced up.
A fatal plane crash in San Rafael last month remains under investigation, but a preliminary report says the weather conditions were “conducive to serious carburetor icing at cruise power.”
The report by the National Transportation Safety Board makes no conclusion about the cause of the crash. However, the federal authorities say severe carburetor icing can reduce flow to the point the engine might stop.
The report states the wreckage showed no evidence of an explosion or fire, and investigators found no signs of mechanical malfunctions that would have prevented the plane from flying normally.
The crash happened at about 10 p.m. July 8 near San Rafael Airport. The plane’s tail hit power lines before the plane struck the ground.
The single-engine Cessna 172 was carrying the pilot, Kirk Harford of San Rafael, and one passenger, Marc Pankin of Novato. Pankin, 59, was declared dead at the scene, and Harford suffered major injuries. Medics took Harford to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. His condition was not available.
Harford is the co-founder of DSX Data and Pankin was an employee and longtime friend of Harford. They were flying home from a company-related trip.
The NTSB report states that the airplane left the Minden-Tahoe Airport in Nevada at 8:08 p.m. and was headed to San Rafael Airport. Flight tracking data showed the airplane began descending about 65 miles from San Rafael Airport and maintained a steady descent until about 0.4 miles northeast of the airport runway. The power lines the plane hit were 0.2 miles from the runway and 30 feet high.
The report said investigators have no reports of the pilot making distress calls before the crash. While the body, wings and tail section of the plane were substantially damaged, the propeller blades were minimally damaged.
Full aviation investigations are taking one to two years to complete, according to an NTBS official. The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the crash.
The incident was the fourth deadly plane crash in Marin County in less than a decade, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. In 2022, a Vans RV-10 crashed in the Marin Headlands, killing two people; in 2017, a Cessna 172N crashed in the Point Reyes National Seashore, killing the pilot; and in 2014, a Beechcraft V35B Bonanza went down near Novato, killing the pilot.