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July 26, Ashland, Va. / Cessna Centurion

At 00:28 eastern time, a Cessna 210D crashed shortly after departure from Hanover County Airport, killing the pilot. Witnesses reported the airplane arrived about 18:15 and the tanks were filled. Several hours later the pilot called for a weather briefing and filed an IFR flight plan. The pilot took off and was climbing to his cruising altitude of 5,000 feet when the controller called him to find out why he hadnt started turning on course. The pilot replied Ah, currently, Im at, ah … The radio continued to transmit background noise but no voice. Again a few minutes later, the aircraft transmitted background noise only. The controller tried to contact the pilot again and got a verbal resp...

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A Cessna 210D crashed shortly after departing Hanover County Airport at 00:28 eastern time, resulting in the death of the pilot.
  • After takeoff, the pilot's radio communications became erratic, consisting of garbled responses or only background noise, despite attempts by air traffic control to issue instructions.
  • The aircraft was observed circling the airport before crashing right wing low at an extremely high descent rate, exceeding 10,000 feet per minute.
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At 00:28 eastern time, a Cessna 210D crashed shortly after departure from Hanover County Airport, killing the pilot. Witnesses reported the airplane arrived about 18:15 and the tanks were filled. Several hours later the pilot called for a weather briefing and filed an IFR flight plan. The pilot took off and was climbing to his cruising altitude of 5,000 feet when the controller called him to find out why he hadnt started turning on course. The pilot replied Ah, currently, Im at, ah … The radio continued to transmit background noise but no voice. Again a few minutes later, the aircraft transmitted background noise only. The controller tried to contact the pilot again and got a verbal response, so he issued turning instructions. The airplane at this point appeared to be circling around the airport. No further radio contact was made. The airplane appeared to hit right wing low at a descent rate in excess of 10,000 feet per minute.

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