U.S. Bancorp executive stopped responding to control tower minutes before Brooklyn Park crash

Air traffic control gave a low-altitude warning with no response before U.S. Bancorp executive Terry Dolan’s private plane crashed into a Brooklyn Park home last month, according to a federal aviation report released Friday.

A controller inside the Anoka County-Blaine Airport tower last heard Dolan — the pilot and sole person killed in the crash — acknowledge clearance to land at Runway 9 and verify the latest weather information.

As the Socata TBM700A plane began a sharp descent, Dolan failed to respond when the control tower issued a low-altitude warning and a second attempted communication three minutes later, according to the preliminary findings of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Investigators evaluating the wreckage discovered no immediate signs of a mechanical issue with the engine or airframe, according to the report. The continuity of the flight control system was also established, the report says.

The federal NTSB released its first report since Dolan crashed his plane on March 29. He had been flying home from Naples, Fla., and stopped in Des Moines, Iowa, to refuel.

The investigation of the crash remains ongoing. The report Friday identified no probable causes and contained no medical information about Dolan.

The crash occurred a few miles from where Dolan kept his airplane at the Anoka-Blaine Airport, which houses recreational and corporate aircraft. Dolan held a private pilot license since October 2008, according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records.

The airplane was flying at 3,000 feet above sea level when descent began roughly five nautical miles from the airport, according to data analyzed by NTSB investigators. Then its airspeed and descent rapidly increased as the airplane took a left turn.

A doorbell camera filmed the plane in a nosedive and a spin moments before impact. It struck trees before striking a residence, occupied at the time by homeowner Kenneth Tobacman, whose cat was killed and home was destroyed in the crash.

At the time of the crash, Tobacman said he was eating lunch while his wife was walking their dog. He fled the home in his stocking feet after he heard a loud boom, part of the ceiling collapsed, and the home erupted in flames.

Investigators discovered the main wreckage of the plane inside the home’s basement and broken tree limbs that appeared to have been struck by a propeller roughly 100 feet away. Other parts of the left wing were discovered suspended in the trees and on the ground.

On April 1, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office released an initial report identifying the cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries. The medical examiner’s investigation remained ongoing in partnership with the FAA and NTSB.

Dolan, 63, started at U.S. Bancorp in 1998. He ascended to his rank as chief administrative officer after holding other high-level positions in the company, including as chief financial officer. He was the bank’s vice chairman at the time of his death.

Dolan grew up the 10th of 13 siblings on a farm in rural Lucan, Minn. He was a graduate of the University of St. Thomas, an alma mater shared by many Dolans as fellow U.S. Bancorp executive Andy Cecere, who served as CEO from 2017 until earlier this week.

Relatives and friends remembered Dolan — a husband, father of two adult children, and grandfather to six — for his dedication to his family and Twin Cities philanthropic causes.

During a call with analysts on Wednesday, U.S. Bancorp’s new CEO Gunjan Kedia said the company has received an outpouring of support from the financial services community “and our thoughts remain with his friends and family.”