SIOUX FALLS (AP) – Federal investigations into two recent fatal plane crashes in South Dakota have been hindered by the partial government shutdown.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators have been furloughed during the longest ever U.S. government shutdown, forcing the agency to prioritize which crashes they investigate, the Argus Leader reported.
Probes into a plane crash south of Salem that killed its pilot on Sunday and another on Christmas Day in Sioux Falls have been delayed until funding is restored.
“That changes this thing quite dramatically,” said Brad Stiefvater, McCook County Emergency Management Director.
McCook County workers removed the wreckage from Sunday’s crash scene with NTSB’s clearance and planned to preserve it until an examination can begin.
Stiefvater said both he and the NTSB are in the dark on when the agency can oversee an investigation.
After the Sioux Falls plane crash, Minnesota-based company Wentworth Aircraft was contracted by the NTSB to remove the wreckage and store it in a hangar near Minneapolis.
Ted Davies, a Wentworth employee, said it will remain there until the NTSB can get around to investigating what caused the crash. “(We’re) just waiting for the shutdown to end,” Davies said.
The partial government shutdown has had an impact on many facets of life in the U.S., straining the aviation system , preventing the issue of initial public offerings and prompting some furloughed workers to take on second jobs so they can make ends meet.
