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Minnesota News
MPR News Staff

'No response': Report sheds light on fatal Hermantown, Minn. plane crash

A house with a hole in its roof from a plane crash
Three people died when a small plane crashed into a home on Arrowhead Road in Hermantown, Minn. on Oct. 1, 2022. A preliminary NTSB report found the tower lost contact with the plane shortly after takeoff.
John Myers | Duluth News Tribune

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Updated: 2:21 p.m.

The National Transportation Safety Board says the control tower in Duluth lost contact with a pilot shortly before a plane crash in Hermantown, Minn. that killed three people earlier this month.

Skies were overcast at 11:12 p.m. on Oct. 1 when the Cessna 172S took off from Duluth. The pilot and two passengers had attended a wedding in the area. They were heading back to South St. Paul Municipal Airport when the small plane crashed into a home, narrowly missing the people inside.

The report found that a departure frequency issued by the control tower was read back incorrectly by the pilot and not corrected by the air traffic controller.

Shortly after takeoff, the plane made a turn and then began a descent. The tower in Duluth tried to reach the pilot, 32-year-old Tyler Fretland of Burnsville. After not responding on the departure frequency, he responded to controllers on a tower frequency.

“Several seconds later, while the airplane continued to descend in a left turn with increasing ground speed, the controller informed the pilot that he observed the airplane descending and asked him to confirm that he was climbing. There was no response and no further communication from the pilot,” according to the report.

The plane crashed into the home at 11:17 p.m., just five minutes after it took off. There was no sign of a fire in the wreckage, but first responders reported the strong smell of fuel during their recovery efforts.

The crash also killed 31-year-old Alyssa Schmidt, a second-grade teacher from St. Paul, and her brother, 32-year-old Matthew Schmidt of Burnsville.

It is not clear at this point what contributed to the crash.

A final report from the NTSB is expected in about a year.