Weather may have been a factor in the plane crash that killed MyMichigan Health President and CEO Diane Postler-Slattery and her husband, Donald Slattery, according to the National Transportation and Safety Board preliminary report.
On March 8, Postler-Slattery and her husband’s plane crashed attempting to land in cloud cover at Northern Florida Beaches International Airport in Panama City, FL. The single engine Cessna 182Q aircraft crashed in a wooded area one mile north of the airport’s runway.
Don Slattery was the sole pilot of the personal flight.
According to the report, FAA air traffic control communications reveals the Slatterys left Jack Barstow Airport (IKW) in Midland and arrived at Warren County Memorial Airport (RNC) in McMinnville, Tennessee around 4 p.m. CST. After arrival in Tennessee, receipts show Slattery fueled up to travel to Florida. The couple then departed at 4:54 p.m. and arrived in darkness, nearly 3 hours later, at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP).
Slattery was in contact with Tyndall Air Force Base according to a review of preliminary air traffic control communications. The controller cleared him for landing.
Slattery was instructed to radio air traffic control tower at ECP. He informed them he was inbound. The controller acknowledged and then provided the weather at the airport which included wind at 150° at 6 knots, visibility 2 miles and mist with overcast ceiling at 200 ft. above ground level.
Slattery then stated, “200 overcast we’ll give it a try and see if we can get her down.”
The controller than radioed back about a minute later to tell Slattery that his altitude was low. Slattery said, “affirmative.”
Slattery flight Track, final approach course and accident site. – National Transportation Safety Board
Then controller advised that Slattery was deviating from the flight track. An FAA review of flight tracking data shows the Cessna flying right and left of the runway centerline.
The controller followed up by saying, “one more thing and then I won’t transmit again. There are other airports nearby with better weather conditions.” To which Slattery replied, “alright we’ll try this down to minimums and go-round if need be.” Minimums meaning he was trying to get closer to the runway.
Not even a minute later the controller reached out to Slattery again. “It appears you are drifting a little to the right,” they said. Then repeated, “it appears you are drifting well to the right.”
There was no more communication after that from Slattery despite several attempts from the controller. The controller alerted airport operations of a possible plane crash.
Don Slattery had a private pilot certificate. He has logged 691 hours of flight time with 569 of those in the accident plane. His last flight review was June of 2021.
The investigation into the crash will continue with a final report taking a year or even more.
Postler-Slattery, 62, became president and CEO of MyMichigan Health in Jan. 2013. Prior to that, she served as president and CEO Aspirus Wausau Hospital and senior vice president of quality and extended services for the Aspirus system. She held a Ph.D. in education administration from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, as well as a Master of Science in nursing/nursing administration and Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.
Diane and Don are survived by their three children and five grandchildren.
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