NTSB Releases Preliminary Report on Fatal Accident in Florida

According to the preliminary report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board, the aircraft was a Van’s Aircraft RV-4. The RV-4 is an experimental aircraft; it is not known if the pilot, the sole person aboard, was also the builder.

The pilot’s flight was brief. The RV-4 departed Tallahassee International Airport (KTLH) around 1:20 p.m., heading westbound. The airplane, destined for Monroe County Aeroplex Airport (KMVC), crashed in a rural area near Quincy Municipal Airport (KUIN).

The report indicates that shortly after takeoff, air traffic control terminated radar services and approved the pilot’s request for a frequency change.

Preliminary radar data provided by the FAA says the airplane continued westbound for about 17 minutes before radar contact was lost.

The canopy of the airplane landed in the yard of an off-duty highway patrolman, 1.5 miles from the main wreckage. Investigators found the aircraft wreckage dispersed along a 550-foot-long path in a wooded area, a breached fuel tank, and the left wing damaged by fire, according to the report. The engine, propeller, pieces of the landing gear, and parts of the instrument panel were located at the end of the wreckage path. Both propeller blades were impact separated.

The accident is under investigation.