NTSB Identification: ERA13FA083
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, December 10, 2012 in Lake Park, GA
Aircraft: DIAMOND AIRCRAFT IND INC DA 40, registration: N840DS
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On December 10, 2012, at approximately 1950 eastern standard time, a Diamond Aircraft Industries DA 40; N840DS, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain after a loss of control during climb, near Lake Park, Georgia. The certificated private pilot was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight, which departed Valdosta Regional Airport (VLD), Valdosta, Georgia, and was destined for Jesup-Wayne County Airport (JES), Jesup, Georgia.
According to the VLD Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) supervisor, at approximately 1935, the pilot radioed VLD ATCT and advised that he was ready to taxi for departure. The pilot was then issued current weather and taxi instructions to the active runway. The pilot then advised the controller that he would be departing to the east to JES.
At 1939, the pilot advised ATCT that he was ready for departure and was issued current wind information and was cleared for takeoff.
At 1942, the pilot was advised to squawk a beacon code of "1200" and that he could receive visual flight rules (VFR) advisory service with Moody Air Force Base Radar Approach Control (RAPCON) on frequency 126.6. The pilot then advised that he was changing to frequency 126.6 for advisory services.
According to the RAPCON supervisor, after the pilot contacted the RAPCON for VFR flight following the pilot was advised to squawk a beacon code of "5576" but, at 1950, before the airplane was radar identified by the RAPCON, the pilot radioed "I'm in trouble". Moments later, both radar and radio contact was lost.
At 1953, downed airplane procedures were initiated and a search for the airplane by federal, state, and local authorities was initiated.
On December 11, 2012, at 1115, the wreckage of the airplane was discovered by the crew of a Georgia State Patrol helicopter in a heavily wooded area, approximately 7 miles from VLD.
Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane initially made contact with an approximately 56 foot high pine tree before striking two smaller trees and then the ground about 50 feet further on, from the initial impact point with the tree. The impact angle was measured at an approximate 45 degree nose down angle, and the airplane came to rest on a 107 degree magnetic heading in a depression on the forest floor.
Examination of the wreckage revealed that the airplane was heavily fragmented. Further examination revealed however, that all major components of the airplane were present and control continuity was established for all of the primary flight controls, and for the wing flaps.
The recorded weather at VLD, at 1953, approximately 3 minutes after the accident included: wind variable at 4 knots, visibility 10 miles, broken clouds at 1,400 feet, temperature 22 degrees C, dew point 19 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 29.84 inches of mercury.
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on October 15, 2012. On that date, he reported that he had accrued 208 total hours of flight experience.
According to FAA and maintenance records, the airplane was manufactured in 2007. The airplane’s most recent annual inspection was completed on April 27, 2012. At the time of the inspection, the airplane had accrued 203.1 total hours of operation.
Portions of the elevator pitch trim system were retained by the NTSB for further examination.
Rick Poppell
(Source: Family)
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) -
An NTSB preliminary report could be completed by the end of next week on a plane crash that killed Jesup businessman Rick Poppell.
They're still not sure why his plane went down shortly after takeoff from Valdosta. An autopsy report determined that Poppell died from multiple blunt force injuries. His death is being ruled accidental.
His visitation is 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Jesup Church of God. The funeral is Sunday at 2 p.m. also at the Jesup Church of God.
LAKE PARK, GA (WALB) - Tonight, aviation investigators and clean-up crews remain on the scene of that deadly plane crash in Lowndes County.
They're still not sure why the plane went down Monday night shortly after takeoff from Valdosta.
Jesup businessman and pilot Rick Poppell was in Valdosta to check on his Christmas tree lots. And we do know crews found a considerable amount of money at the crash site.
Mike and Cindy Hovanec say they were the last people to see 52-year-old Rick Poppell alive. Poppell flew into Valdosta Monday and stopped at the two Christmas tree lots he owned in Valdosta. The Hovanec's worked for Poppell for more than a decade and say his visit was unexpected.
"I turn around and there he was. And he goes, his favorite words were, 'what's goin' on?' and I'm going 'uh what's going on, what are you doing here?,'" said Mike Hovanec.
Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine says, Poppell was in town to collect the profits from his Valdosta businesses. Prine says they recovered a considerable amount of money in envelopes from the crash site.
"I thank God for this man, I thank God for him trusting us, you know there's a lot of money that goes through that cash register and this man trusted us over these years," said Hovanec.
As FAA and NTSB officials continued their investigation today, clean-up crews arrived to start removing the wreckage.
Investigators have allowed us to come a little bit closer to the scene of the crash. But we're told even if you're standing right next to the yellow tape, you can't even see the wreckage. He crashed into thick woods.
An autopsy report came back this morning and Poppell died from multiple blunt force injuries. He death was ruled accidental.
"Here's a man that was prosperous, here's a man that had everything, here's a man that was in good health and had a great wife and all of a sudden he's here today and bam, he's gone. It's like your life is a vapor," said Hovanec.
The Hovanec's say they couldn't have been luckier to have such a great boss.
"We loved him, we loved him, he was a great man, he will be greatly missed," said the Hovanec's.
NTSB officials say a preliminary report could be completed by the end of next week.
According to the FAA's pilot registration website, Poppell earned his pilot's license a little more than a year ago.
His body was taken to his hometown of Jesup this afternoon.
Story and photos: http://www.walb.com
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 840DS Make/Model: DA40 Description: DA-40 Katana
Date: 12/11/2012 Time: 0054
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: JASPER State: GA Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD WAS
FATALLY INJURED, NEAR JASPER, GA
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: COLLEGE PARK, GA (SO11) Entry date: 12/12/2012
http://registry.faa.gov/N840DS
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N840DS
JESUP,
GA (WTOC)- Friends and loved ones of businessman Rick Poppell said his
death in a plane crash leaves a void in their community.
"He
was a leader in his church, a leader in business, a leader in this
community," said Gary Browning, a close friend of Poppell and Wayne
County's magistrate judge.
Poppell, of Poppell's Produce, had flown his plane to Valdosta to check on some of his family's Christmas tree sale lots Monday.
"He'd called them and said he was
finished and on the way home and would be home in a couple of hours,"
Browning added. "Well, he's home. He's just not here."
Wayne County Sheriff John Carter said he
was notified shortly after Poppell's single engine plane disappeared
from radar south of Valdosta. Moments earlier, he had radioed in to
advise of mechanical trouble.
"My deputies went out to the airport
here to see if he'd made it home somehow," Carter explained. "That's
when FAA told us they were treating this as a downed aircraft."
Carter knew Poppell as one of the
supporters who helped sponsor a regional law enforcement appreciation
dinner. He also knew him as the cousin of one of his deputies.
Poppell's Produce ships food all over the state of Georgia. This year, their Christmas trees adorn the Governor's mansion.
"Sandra and I had the great pleasure
this holiday season of meeting Rick and his family when they donated the
Christmas trees for the Governor's mansion. We are shocked and saddened
by this tragedy. We will think of him fondly every time we return home
and see the beautiful trees that he so generously gave to the people of
Georgia. We send our deepest condolences to the Poppell family, and we
mourn this loss," Governor Nathan Deal expressed to WTOC.
Browning attended church with Poppell
and said he had just recently founded a new Sunday School class for
young adults. It was, Browning said, another example of his response to
issues.
"Many people can spot a need. He had the ability, the uncanny ability, to see needs and jump in and work on them himself."
The crash is under federal investigation
by the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board. His body will
undergo autopsy by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday.
Source: http://appling-wayne.wtoc.com
Governor Nathan Deal released this statement:
"Sandra and I had the great pleasure this holiday season of meeting
Rick and his family when they donated the Christmas trees for the
Governor's Mansion. We are shocked and saddened by this tragedy. We will
think of him fondly every time we return home and see the beautiful
trees that he so generously gave to the people of Georgia. We send our
deepest condolences to the Poppell family, and we mourn this loss."
Diamond Aircraft: http://www.diamondaircraft.com
Valdosta Regional Airport: http://www.flyvaldosta.com
Valdosta Regional Airport (KVLD): http://www.airnav.com/airport/VLD
LOWNDES COUNTY, GA (WALB) -
Federal Aviation Administration investigators are working to find out
why a plane crashed into a swamp in Lowndes County Monday night. The
Jesup pilot was killed when his Diamond DA-40 went down in Lake Park
minutes after taking off from the Valdosta Airport.
The
search for the plane wreckage started around 8:00 Monday night and
continued today. More than 50 first responders tracked through the
wooded terrain in Lake Park looking for any sign of Jesup native Rick
Poppell and his single engine airplane.
"It's real thick back
here, just dirt roads and thick, thick woods, I think if a plane crashed
it'd be pretty hard to find back here," said Brian Findley, who lives
nearby.
Just before noon Tuesday, a GSP helicopter crew spotted
the plane off Old Lake Park Road. The Lowndes County Coroner was called
to the scene shortly after. Poppell did not survive the crash.
"It's just a crash scene and nobody could have survived that," said Coroner Bill Watson.
Now
investigators have not allowed us to go back there but what we do know
is that the plane and his body were found about a half a mile down this
driveway. His body was found next to a cow pen.
Poppell left the
Valdosta Airport around 7:40 Monday night. He told air traffic control
he was having problems shortly after takeoff but they lost contact with
him around 8:00.
"We've worked several aircraft crashes and this is pretty devastating," said Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine.
Prine
says the foggy weather last night made for dangerous flying conditions.
It even halted their helicopter search efforts until this morning.
Until FAA officials complete their investigation, we will not know the
cause of the crash.
FAA and NTSB officials from Virginia arrived
on scene late today and have started their investigation. Poppell's
body will be transported to the GBI crime lab in Macon Wednesday for an
autopsy.
http://www.walb.com
Prominent Wayne County businessman Rick Poppell, 52, died Monday night in a plane crash in Lowndes County. Poppell’s Diamond DA40 crashed shortly after takeoff from
Valdosta Regional Airport. He was the sole occupant of the four-seater aircraft. Searchers looked for Poppell throughout the night and into Tuesday morning before sighting the wreckage. The FAA reported Monday night that Poppell had telephoned to report trouble just after 8:30 p.m., when he left the airport. Shortly after that call, the airplane disappeared from radar and a search was initiated.
As many as 50 rescue personnel were involved in the search Tuesday morning, including Reggie Beasley and Mitch Sutton from Wayne County. The downed single-engine aircraft was spotted from the air at around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, according
to an FAA spokesman. Authorities were able to use data from Poppell’s cell phone to assist in locating the wreckage.
The plane was in what search crews described as “rugged terrain” off of Georgia Highway 41 between Dasher and Lake Park in Lowndes County, some 20 miles south of Valdosta. Rescue crews had difficulty reaching the crash site, where Poppell’s body was recovered. He was confirmed dead by Lowndes County coroner Bill Watson.
Poppell and his wife, Cathy, had four children, Jonathan, Jacob, Katlyn and Ben.
Poppell was the owner and operator of Poppell’s Produce, which he opened in
1991 as a wholesale company dealing in fruits and vegetables. Last month The Press-Sentinel featured Poppell in an article that recounted how Poppell’s company had provided trees to decorate the Georgia Governor’s Mansion for Christmas this year. He and his Cathy were shown in front of the mansion along with Gov. and Mrs. Nathan Deal.
Poppell had been active in the Republican Party for the past several years and
had been instrumental in the elections of former Gov. Sonny Perdue and
Deal, as well as other state and local elected officials. Longtime friend Mark Williams, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said that he and the community “will greatly miss a leader and a great person.”
Poppell was also known as an active member of the Jesup Church of God, where he had been serving on the Church and Pastor’s Council for several years. He was also a young adult Sunday school class teacher.
Information as of press time
Tuesday remained sketchy. Funeral arrangements had not been determined,
but further details will be presented in a follow-up article in The
Press-Sentinel. The DA40 has accumulated a very low accident
record, particularly with regard to stall and spin accidents. Its
overall and fatal accident rates are one-eighth those of the general
aviation fleet and include no stall-related accidents. In a 2011
analysis by Aviation Consumer magazine, the DA40 was shown to have a
fatal accident rate of 0.35/100,000 hours, the lowest in US general
aviation.
Article: http://www.thepress-sentinel.com
A search is under way near
Lake Park at a plane that disappeared off radar Monday night after the
pilot, Rick Poppell of Jesup, reported trouble, officials said. WALB
TV is reporting that Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson confirmed that a
body has been recovered at the plane crash scene in Lowndes County.
Lowndes
County Sheriff Rick Prine said about 50 people were searching for the
plane Tuesday morning and that a Georgia State Patrol helicopter is
coming to the area to assist, WALB TV reported. Wayne County Sheriff John Carter said he was advised that Poppell’s plane was missing Monday night.
“The FAA from Jacksonville asked us to check the airport here,’’ Carter said. “I’m assuming he was heading this way." FAA
spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the agency issued an alert for a
missing aircraft in the vicinity Monday night. The plane was a single
engine Diamond Aircraft DA 40, she said. Bergen said she had no information on the number of people aboard.
Echols County Sheriff Randy Courson said a search began Monday night but called off because of dense fog. Poppell
owns Poppell’s Produce, which sells produce around the country and is
well known locally for its pumpkin patch on the family farm north of
Jesup that is visited by school groups before Halloween.
Poppell’s
Produce also sets up Christmas tree lots in Southeast Georgia, and
Carter said he was told Poppell had flown to Valdosta to check on sales
there.
Article: http://savannahnow.com
LOWNDES COUNTY, GA (WALB) - Lowndes Co. Coroner Bill Watson confirms that a body has been recovered at the plane crash scene in Lowndes County.
State troopers had been searching the wooded area for pilot Rick Poppell, who reported trouble with his Diamond Aircraft DA40 last night after takeoff.
Authorities say terrain in the area is rugged, and crews were attempting to reach the site from the ground late Tuesday morning.
Around 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday, the Georgia Highway Patrol told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that it found the wreckage of the plane, a Diamond Aircraft DA40, in Lake Park, Ga., just 20 miles south of Valdosta.
A helicopter search squad arrived about 11:00AM, to help search the area.
Lowndes Co. Sheriff Chris Prine says that a plane crashed last night in the Lake Park area. The pilot, Rick Poppell of Jesup Ga. left the Valdosta Airport at 8:30AM and told FAA he was having problems. Crews have been searching since Monday night.
VALDOSTA, Ga. — The wreckage of a small plane that crashed in south Georgia with one person on board has been spotted from the air, and crews were trying to reach the crash scene, authorities said. The plane crashed Monday night in the Lake Park area, Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine told WALB-TV. he pilot left the Valdosta Regional Airport at 8:30 p.m. Monday and told authorities by radio he was having some type of problem, authorities said.
The Federal Aviation Administration had issued an alert for a missing single-engine Diamond Aircraft DA40 in the Valdosta-Lake Park area, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told The Associated Press.
One person was on board, Bergen said.Georgia Highway Patrol officials told the FAA that the wreckage was spotted around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, after a search of the area, Bergen said. The terrain in the area is rugged, and crews on the ground were attempting to reach the site around mid-day Tuesday, authorities said. Lake Park is about 13 miles southeast of Valdosta and just north of the Georgia-Florida line.
VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say the wreckage of a small plane that crashed in south Georgia has been located. One person on board, according the FAA. The FAA will release the aircraft registry when local authorities release ID and condition of the pilot. Authorities say the pilot left the Valdosta Regional Airport at 8:30 p.m. Monday and told authorities by radio he was having some type of problem.
WTOC-TV reports that the wreckage was spotted from the air after a search Tuesday morning. Authorities say the terrain is rugged, and crews were attempting to reach the site. About 50 people were searching in the Twin Lakes area on Tuesday, and a Georgia State Patrol helicopter was called to assist them in those efforts. Lake Park is about 13 miles southeast of Valdosta and just north of the Georgia-Florida line.
