Cause of 2021 plane crash released (2025)

ALEXANDRIA — The final report on a plane crash that killed three people in August 2021 has been released.

Earlier this year, the National Transportation Safety Board reported that the pilot of the plane lost control of the craft due to spatial disorientation during final approach, which led to a spiral dive that over-stressed the airplane and resulted in an in-flight breakup.

The plane took off from Alexandria and crashed near Victoria, Minnesota on Aug. 7, 2021.

Dr. James Edney of Omaha, Neb., who owned a cottage on Lake Miltona, died in the crash, along with his stepson, Jacob Mertes, and Mertes’ wife, Dr. Sara Mertes. Edney was piloting the plane when it crashed.

According to the NTSB's report, about 10 miles from the runway while on final approach, the plane slowed to 80 knots, tracked left of the approach course, accelerated to about 140 knots, then descended about 300 feet.

The plane then turned right and descended below the designated altitude for the approach, which triggered a low-altitude alert that the controller transmitted, and the pilot acknowledged, the report reads.

The airplane then abruptly turned left and entered a steep descent, continuing in a left-turning spiral, the report reads.

It subsequently impacted the ground upright about eight miles west of the destination airport, the report reads.

"Both wings and the right stabilizer were deflected upward in a vertical position," the report reads. "No pre-accident mechanical failures or malfunctions were found in the airframe and engine that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane debris on the ground … showed that an in-flight breakup occurred during the final seconds of flight."

The performance study for the crash revealed that the airplane exceeded its maximum positive load factor during the spiral descent, the report reads.

"As the airplane descended below the overcast ceiling, a rapid groundspeed increase and heading change occurred, which were consistent with the pilot … attempting to recover the airplane from a nose-low attitude after seeing the ground," the report reads. "The spiral descent and attempted recovery overstressed the airplane, which caused the in-flight breakup."

Post-accident examinations of the airplane showed that both wing main spars and both sides of the horizontal stabilizer had fractured due to overstress, the report reads.

"The wings fractured first, and the horizontal stabilizer, elevator and spar cap fractured immediately afterward," the report reads.

During a press conference in 2021, Mike Folkerts, NTSB air safety investigator, said the horizontal stabilizer and elevator come from the tail area of the plane.

"You can think of the horizontal stabilizer as the rear wing of the tail, and then the elevator is hooked up to that," Folkerts said. "It helps the aircraft pitch up and down. …

"Without an elevator and a horizontal stabilizer, the aircraft is not flyable," he said.

While the pilot was flying the final approach, several of his radio transmissions were either delayed or disjointed, indicating that he "was task-saturated," the report reads.

"The performance study showed that, when the airplane made the series of turns while on final approach, erratic altitude and airspeed fluctuations occurred," the report reads. "These airspeed and altitude fluctuations and the tight spiraling turn that began afterward were consistent with the pilot becoming spatially disoriented due to the lack of visual references while the airplane was operating in IMC. The pilot's spatial disorientation led to his loss of airplane control."

The report states that a friend of Edney said he had adopted an instrument flying habit in the Mooney M20M airplane that involved making turns on approach primarily with the rudder and adjusting pitch attitude with the pitch trim.

"If the pilot controlled the airplane in such a manner during the accident flight, especially in response to the controller's low-altitude alert, the application of rudder could have exacerbated the pilot's erratic airplane control inputs while on approach," the report reads.

James Edney, 72, was well-known among the Alexandria pilot community, and friends described him as an experienced pilot. Edney was an Omaha surgeon who was recognized as a top breast cancer specialist in the Omaha region, according to his obituary.

A few days before the crash, Edney and his wife, Deborah, had recently hosted a large family gathering, including Jim Edney’s siblings, at Lake Miltona, where Edney had spent time since he was a child.

The full NTSB report is available online .