The NTSB has asked Canada’s Transportation Safety Board to take over the investigation of a midair collision over Virginia between two light airplanes owned by employees of the FAA and NTSB.
On Monday afternoon a Piper Cherokee registered to an FAA employee and a Beechcraft Bonanza owned by an NTSB employee collided in flight near Warrenton-Fauquier Airport (KHWY) in Sumerduck, Virginia, about 50 miles west of Washington, D.C. The pilot and a passenger aboard the Bonanza were killed. The owner and pilot of the PA-28 survived with injuries.
NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman consulted with FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta and requested the TSB of Canada investigate the midair. “This accident hits especially close to home, with the involvement of an NTSB employee,” Hersman said in a statement. She said an NTSB investigator will serve as a U.S. liaison to Canadian investigators.
The midair collision happened about five miles south of KHWY at around 4 p.m. on Monday. The airplanes crashed about a mile from each another, with parts and debris scattered between the two crash sites in a hard to access area, according to media reports.
