In its preliminary report, the NTSB included an image of the accident site. The red line indicates the aircraft's approximate track based on radar data. The blue circle denotes the location of the main wreckage. [Courtesy: NTSB]
Key Takeaways:
The NTSB's preliminary investigation suggests that flybys of a friend's home may have contributed to the fatal crash of retired astronaut William Anders' aircraft.
Anders had communicated his intent to fly past a friend's house, a routine witnessed by the friend who noted the final pass was "higher than previous occasions" before the left wing dropped and the plane rapidly descended.
Another witness filmed the final moments, showing the aircraft inverted and in an almost vertical dive, attempting recovery before striking the water.
Flybys of a friend’s home may have contributed to the fatal crash of a Beechcraft T-34A Mentor that claimed the life of retired astronaut William Anders last month in Washington state, according to investigators.
Anders, 90, was a retired military pilot and Air Force major general, Apollo-era NASA astronaut, and founder of the Heritage Flight Museum.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
