Pilot killed in a single-engine plane crash at airport
One person was killed early Friday evening in a singleengine plane crash at the Collegedale Municipal Airport.
Airport officials said the pilot, who has yet to be identified by authorities, was alone and taking off when the twoseat plane crashed a couple dozen yards off the airstrip. Emergency responders at the scene put up sheets over a portion of the crash as the body was removed later Friday.
“It’s always sad when something like this happens,” said Chris Swain, director of operations at the airport.
Details are limited about the circumstances behind the crash, but this is not the first
fatal incident at the Collegedale airport. Five other planes have crashed at the airport since 2004 resulting in 11 fatalities.
Three of those deaths came in a particularly tragic incident in 2016 when a pilot tried to recover from a botched landing just before hitting the ground, according to a report compiled by the National Transportation Safety Board. The pilot, Todd Silver, was killed along with his mother and his son. His daughter was seriously injured but survived.
The Times Free Press reported previously that a flight instructor who was flying with a student nearby witnessed the crash. He told NTSB investigators that he saw the plane coming in on a short final approach.
The plane made a climbing turn to the left near the departure end of the runway, about 100 feet off the ground, and then made a steep bank to the right with the nose pulled high.
During that turn, the plane’s nose dropped, and the whole aircraft rotated as it rapidly descended into the ground.
The plane then slammed into the ground, leaving a 70-foot-long scar in the ground, according to the NTSB.
Swain said both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified about Friday’s crash and investigators were expected to work through the night to unpack what happened.