Update: Pilot in Louisa crash was umpire headed to Danville game, state police say

LOUISA — A twin-engine plane crashed into a small house near Freeman Field airport Thursday, killing the pilot and engulfing the home in flames.

The homeowner escaped injury because he happened to go into the basement moments before the Cessna T303 Crusader struck the house on U.S. 33 in the town of Louisa, authorities said.

"He went into the basement, and crash!" said Louisa sheriff’s Maj. Donald A. Lowe. "He would have definitely been a dead man."

The plane, traveling from Manassas to Danville, had stopped for refueling at the nearby airport about noon and crashed moments after takeoff, according to the Virginia State Police. Police were called to the scene at 12:34 p.m.

The Danville Register & Bee reported that the pilot was coming to Danville to umpire a baseball game, citing sources at Averett University.

No passengers were aboard the four-seat plane. Authorities were waiting last night for the state medical examiner’s office to identify the pilot.

Sara Burks said she and a friend were driving west on U.S. 33, within sight of the house, when she saw the low-flying plane approaching, tilted to one side as if the pilot was trying to turn.

"The wind caught the plane," and it hit some trees and plowed into the house, Burks said at the scene yesterday afternoon.

"It came down on the house, and there was an explosion of a ball of fire that came out into the road and all the trees there," Burks said. "I’m surprised anything’s still standing or that anyone came out alive."

The plane had taken off from Manassas Regional Airport at 11:47 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It landed at Freeman Field and was loaded with 148 gallons of fuel, said state police Sgt. Thomas J. Molnar.

Minutes later, its nose crashed through the front of the 1½-story Cape Cod at 128 Jefferson Highway, about a quarter-mile from the airport and across from an office building and Piedmont Metal Fabricators.

A black plume of smoke rose from the wreckage, and flames engulfed the plane and house and spread into the yard, said Louisa Fire Chief Robert Dube.

Firefighters had the blaze under control in about 15 minutes.

The homeowner who escaped the house declined to be interviewed. Louisa County assessment records identify one of the homeowners as Donald Lee Taylor Sr.

FAA Spokesman Jim Peters said the plane, with the tail number N9305T, was registered to James A. Youngquist of Reston.

"You can’t assume that Mr. Youngquist was at the controls of the aircraft," Peters said.

A person answering the phone at the Youngquist residence declined to comment.

"Because of the death of the pilot as well as the destruction of the property and aircraft, the National Transportation Safety Board will conduct the accident investigation," Peters said.

Youngquist holds a commercial pilot certificate for single-engine airplanes, according to the FAA pilot registry, and his license for flying multi-engine planes is restricted to use as a private pilot only.

State police said they were going to secure the crash scene overnight.

Williams and Slayton are staff writers for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.