A preliminary investigation into the fatal crash of a light-sport aircraft in Amherst County last month indicates the craft might have been having engine trouble, but doesn’t say exactly what caused it to spiral into the ground.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report Friday into the crash that killed pilot John Milhous, 77, of Amherst, and passenger Carl J. Weber, 47, of Forest.
Milhous left a private airstrip at 5:55 p.m. on Aug. 22. Less than an hour later, the small craft crashed into a field off Christian Springs Road, about three miles from the airstrip.
Milhous and Weber had taken to the air for a pleasure flight and no flight plan was filed, the report said.
A witness at the airstrip told investigators that Milhous refueled the aircraft the day before. The 2010 North Wing Scout XC was newly purchased and its registration hadn’t been finalized with the Federal Aviation Administration. The aircraft is powered by a single engine and resembles a hang glider with a two-person carriage underneath its wings.
The witness told investigators Milhous had flown about 20 hours on the newly purchased aircraft, but he had extensive experience with this type of craft, logging over 250 flight hours.
The report notes a witness who lived about 400 feet from the crash location said she watched the aircraft fly about 150 feet above the ground as it passed over her house.
“At the time, the engine was running and it made a ‘popping’ noise,” the report stated. “It then appeared to her that the aircraft was descending to land in the pasture. That’s when all of a sudden the engine revved-up and the aircraft pitched up at a steep angle.
“The aircraft began to make a tight spiral turn to the right and continued to pitch downward. The aircraft made one complete downward spiral before impacting the ground.”
The report stated the woman described the engine as running at “full speed” when it hit the ground.
Milhous’ son Mark Milhous said his father had no known medical conditions and was a healthy, experienced pilot, the report said. He flew his new aircraft almost every day.
The report said the aircraft was severely damaged by the impact and the ensuing fire. The logbooks were burned and illegible. The electronics panel, fuel gauge and airspeed indicators were all destroyed. The landing gear, the engine and the wings were all destroyed.
The crash remains under investigation by the Virginia State Police, the NTSB and the FAA.
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