The first details are in about the May 5 crash of a private airplane in Palymra that killed the pilot and the passenger. The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a preliminary report that details the final minutes of a flight between Manassas and Georgetown, South Carolina.
“The airplane was in cruise flight at 20,000 ft when it reversed course,” reads the report. “The controller queried the pilot, who replied ‘We have lost…We need to climb.’ When the controller asked the pilot ‘what is your issue?’, the pilot responded, ‘we have lost autopilot.’ There were no further communications from the airplane.”
Investigators interviewed an eye-witness who reported hearing a burst of thunder that grew louder. This person went outside to look and saw at the twin-engine plane flying on its side and on fire from the middle. The vehicle hit the ground across the street.
Debris from the aircraft scattered across a three and a mile long path.
“The left wing, left engine, left propeller and empennage were heavily burnt and located at the main wreckage site, which came to rest inverted,” the report continued.
The right engine and the right propeller were not located. The investigation will continue.
The crash killed pilot John W. Latham, 63, of Haymarket and the passenger, Niiben C.A. Ayivorh, 73, of Burke.
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