Saturday, March 26, 2016

Cessna 172 Skyhawk, N6238D, Skylane Aviation LLC: Fatal accident occurred March 26, 2016 at Yeager Airport (KCRW), Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia

Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

NTSB Identification: ERA16FA141
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, March 26, 2016 in Charleston, WV
Probable Cause Approval Date: 08/28/2017
Aircraft: CESSNA 172N, registration: N6238D
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious.

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.

The flight instructor, who was controlling the airplane, and the student pilot were conducting an instructional flight. During the takeoff the airplane lifted off about 1,000 ft down the runway, pitched nose up, and rolled left to an inverted attitude before it impacted terrain next to the runway in a nose-down attitude. The student pilot recalled that as the airplane rotated during the takeoff, he heard the flight instructor exclaim, but could not recall any subsequent events. Postaccident examination of the flight controls revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Examination of the wreckage revealed witness marks along the flight instructor's seat tracks that corresponded with the seat in the nearly full-aft position. Given the flight instructor's stature, it is unlikely that this position would allow her to fully actuate the flight controls, and it is therefore unlikely she purposefully initiated the takeoff with her seat in this position. While one of the two locking pins that would have secured the seat from sliding fore and aft was found fractured, it is likely that the jockeying of the seat during the victim extraction process resulted in the fracture of the locking pin, and left the witness marks observed on the seat track. Examination of the wreckage and maintenance documents also revealed that the airplane was not equipped with a manufacturer-recommended secondary seat stop mechanisms for either of the pilot seats.

Review of operational and maintenance documents published by the airframe manufacturer showed the critical importance of ensuring that the pilot seats were secured prior to initiating a flight, and that accelerations such as those encountered during a takeoff could dislodge an unsecured seat. Had the flight instructor, who was performing the takeoff, not properly secured her seat prior to initiating the takeoff, it may have resulted in her seat sliding aft, and her inadvertent application of control inputs to the control yoke during the rotation and initial climb, consistent with steep climb, descent, and impact. The aft seat position could have also likely resulted in her inability to apply complete or sufficient control inputs to the rudder pedals, consistent with the left yaw/roll observed during the takeoff.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The flight instructor's failure to ensure that her seat was properly secured before initiating the takeoff, which resulted in a subsequent loss of control. Contributing was the lack of an installed secondary seat stop.

Brenda Joyce Willis Jackson, Flight Instructor
Her lifelong passion was flying. 
She obtained her pilot's license as a teenager before she could drive a car.



The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident. 

Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Charleston, West Virginia
Lycoming Engines; Milliken, Colorado
Textron Aviation; Wichita, Kansas

Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

Skylane Aviation LLC: http://registry.faa.gov/N6238D

NTSB Identification: ERA16FA141 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, March 26, 2016 in Charleston, WV
Aircraft: CESSNA 172N, registration: N6238D
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious.

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.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On March 26, 2016, about 1208 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N6238D, impacted terrain during an attempted takeoff at Yeager Airport (CRW), Charleston, West Virginia. The flight instructor was fatally injured, and the student pilot was seriously injured. The airplane was registered to Skylane Aviation LLC and the flight was being conducted as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the airport about the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed for the local flight. 

The student pilot stated that the flight instructor let him taxi the airplane out from the fixed-base operator. The student was having difficulty with the brakes, so the instructor took over the controls and taxied the rest of the way to the runway and run-up area. 

The student pilot stated that he did not remember much after that. However, he did remember that air traffic control told them to expedite the takeoff because another aircraft was coming in for a landing and that the flight instructor then taxied out for takeoff. He recalled that as the airplane rotated during the takeoff, he heard the flight instructor exclaim, but could not recall any subsequent events. 

Review of airport security surveillance video revealed that the airplane lifted off about 1,000 ft down runway 5, pitched up, rolled left, and then became inverted before it impacted terrain next to the runway in a nose-down attitude.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

Flight Instructor

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land, airplane multiengine land, and instrument airplane ratings. She also held a flight instructor certificate with airplane single-engine and instrument airplane ratings. She was issued an FAA second-class medical certificate on June 11, 2015. At the time of the medical examination, the flight instructor reported 1,694 total hours of flight experience. The flight instructor's personal flight logs were not located.

Student Pilot

The student pilot held a student pilot/FAA third-class medical certificate, issued on March 9, 2016. The student's logbook had two entries indicating 3 total hours of flight experience.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The four-seat, high-wing, tricycle landing gear-equipped airplane was manufactured in 1979. It was powered by a 160-horsepower Lycoming O-320-H2AD engine and was equipped with a two-bladed McCauley propeller. Review of maintenance records revealed that the airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed on October 20, 2015. At that time, the airframe had accumulated 10,995.9 total hours of operation, and the engine had accumulated 1540.4 hours since major overhaul. The airplane had been operated about 7 hours since the last annual inspection was completed.

Examination of the airframe logbooks revealed that the seat tracks were replaced on February 12, 2015. Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2011-10-09 was accomplished about 8 months later during the most recent annual inspection. The AD required the inspection of the seat tracks, including but not limited to, the visual inspection of the holes in each track for excessive wear, the seat tracks for dirt or debris, and the seat locking pin for limited vertical play.

The pilot and copilot seats were mounted onto a set of seat tracks, which allowed the seats to slide fore and aft. An adjustment bar was used to raise and lower two locking pins into one of twelve positions along each of the seat tracks, which would secure the seat to the desired position. The locking pins downward travel and positive locking action was aided via a spring mechanism that tensioned the adjustment bar (see figure 1).

Figure 1. Illustrated Parts Catalog, Seat Diagram.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The wreckage was contained in a small area, and ground scars were consistent with the airplane impacting in a nose-low, right-wing-down attitude. The airplane impacted the ground about 20 yards left and midfield of runway 5 and came to rest inverted. The engine and propeller were forced up and into the instrument panel and cockpit area. The leading edges of both wings were crushed due to impact forces. The fuselage had one wrinkle in the skin behind the rear window. The rudder and elevator were intact and unremarkable. The flaps and aileron were intact and unremarkable. Control cable continuity was established to all flight controls. Measurement of the elevator trim jackscrew corresponded to an approximate neutral trim setting. When the engine crankshaft was rotated by hand, valve train continuity was established, and thumb compression was attained on all cylinders. The propeller exhibited rotational scoring, and one blade tip was missing.

All four roller housing tangs (feet) on the flight instructor's seat were spread and bent. The seat tracks were gouged where they were in contact with the locking pins. One locking pin was fractured off at the roll pin. There were lockpin contact marks in the eleventh hole location from the front to back of the inboard seat rail, consistent with the seat being near the full-aft position at impact.

The inboard seat-position locking pin and outboard seat-post from the flight instructor's seat were sent to the National Transportation Safety Board's Materials Laboratory for examination. The inboard seat position locking pin had fractured, and the overall deformation pattern adjacent to the fracture was consistent with bending deformation where the outboard side of the locking pin was in tension and the inboard side was in compression. The stop-pin hole below the fracture surface on the outboard side of the rod showed necking deformation, whereas the upper side of the hole remained close to its original diameter, consistent with the stop pin being in the upper side of the hole as the locking pin was bent. Contact marks were observed on the lower side of the stop-pin hole at the inboard end of the hole, consistent with contact along the roll pin split line on the compression side of the bending fracture.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Charleston, West Virginia, performed an autopsy on the flight instructor. The cause of death was reported to be "multiple injuries." The report also noted that the flight instructor's height was 69 inches.

The FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, conducted toxicology testing on specimens from the pilot. The results were negative for carbon monoxide and drugs.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The airplane's Pilot's Information Manual, before starting engine checklist, advised pilots to verify the seats, seat belts and shoulder harnesses are adjusted and locked. 

The Cessna Pilot Safety and Warnings Supplements document warned that a pilot should perform a visual check to verify that their seat was securely on the seat tracks and assure that the seat was locked in position. Failure to ensure that the seat was locked in position could result in the seat sliding aft during a critical phase of flight, such as initial climb. The airframe manufacturer also issued a Service Bulletin (SEB07-R06 Revision 6, issued June 11, 2015), which required the installation of a secondary seat stop for the pilot seat, and recommended one for the co-pilot seat. A secondary seat stop was not installed on either of the accident airplane's front pilot seats. The supplement also warned that there had been previous reported events involving seats slipping rearward or forward during acceleration or deceleration related to discrepancies in the seat mechanisms. The investigations following these events revealed discrepancies such as gouged lockpin holes, bent lockpins, excessive clearance between seat rollers and tracks, and missing seat stops. Also, dust, dirt, and debris accumulations on the seat tracks and in the intermediate adjustment hoes have been found to contribute to the problem.


NTSB Identification: ERA16FA141 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, March 26, 2016 in Charleston, WV
Aircraft: CESSNA 172N, registration: N6238D
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious.

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 March 26, 2016, about 1208 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N6238D, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain at the Yeager Airport (CRW) Charleston, West Virginia. The flight instructor was fatally injured and the student pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local instructional flight. The airplane was owned by Skylane Aviation LLC. The instructional flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

Review of airport security surveillance video revealed the accident airplane lifted off about 1,000 feet down runway 5 in a nose high attitude. The airplane then rolled left and reached an inverted attitude before it impacted nose first beside the runway. The airplane came to rest inverted.

The debris area was compact and the ground scars were consistent with the airplane impacting nose first, right wing down attitude. Control cable continuity was established to all flight controls. Measurement of the elevator trim jackscrew corresponded to an approximate neutral trim setting. When the engine crankshaft was rotated by hand, valve train continuity was established and thumb compression was attained on all cylinders. The propeller exhibited rotational scoring and one blade tip was missing.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, airplane multi-engine land, and instrument airplane, which was issued on March 3, 2011. She held a flight instructor certificate with ratings for airplane single engine, and instrument airplane. She also held an FAA second-class medical certificate, issued June 11, 2015. At the time of the medical examination, the flight instructor reported 1,694 total hours of flight experience. The student pilot held a student pilot certificate issued on March 9, 2016, and held a third-class medical certificate, issued on the same date.

The four-seat, high-wing, tricycle landing gear airplane, serial number 17272656, was manufactured in 1979. It was powered by a Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160-horsepower engine, equipped with a two-bladed McCauley propeller. Review of maintenance records revealed that the airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed on October 20, 2015. At that time, the airframe had accumulated about 10,995.9 total hours of operation and the engine had accumulated 1540.4 hours since major overhaul. The airplane had been operated about 7 hours since that inspection.

The recorded weather at CRW, at 1218, included winds from 330 degrees at 4 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, and a clear sky.




Please Help The Farrars: https://www.gofundme.com 




Brenda Jackson, seen here in 2012, died Saturday when Cessna 172 she was in crashed on takeoff at Yeager Airport. Jackson, who grew up flying, had been a flight instructor at Yeager for the past four years.


Friends of Brenda Gilland, a flight instructor from Charleston, say she died in an accident at Yeager Airport Saturday. 
~

Brenda Jackson got her pilot’s license before she got her driver’s license.

She took her first flying lesson at age 14, after her she’d seen a flight instructor showing off his planes at the Beckley Mall.

“I want to do this,” she told her dad, back in 1973, according to family lore.

“Well, OK,” was all he could say.

She got her commercial pilot’s license in the late 1970s, soon after she graduated from Mount Hope High School. She was only the second woman in Fayette County ever to do so, she was told at the time.

Jackson, a flight instructor for Skylane Aviation in Charleston, died Saturday after the four-seat airplane she was in crashed on takeoff on the runway at Yeager Airport.

The other person in the plane, Arrin Farrar, 42, a student pilot, remained in serious condition at Charleston Area Medical Center on Monday.

“She loved life, she loved the Lord, loved flying, loved family,” said Jackson’s son, Ed Gilland. “She was nothing but a crazy country girl who just loved life.”

When Gilland, who lives in Fayette County, called his mother in the mornings, the calls tended to stick to a familiar pattern.

“What you heard, 99 percent of the time, was ‘How’s the family? Now I’m going flying,’ ” Gilland said. “That was her in a nutshell.”

Unless the weather was bad. Then she’d complain because she couldn’t fly.

“Anybody who does flight instruction does it because they love to fly, not because they’re getting rich,” said Mike Plante, a Yeager spokesman and licensed pilot.

Jackson flew airplanes 10 to 12 times per week, according to Joe Beam, her boss at Skylane Aviation and the owner of the Cessna 172N that crashed Saturday.

She’d been a flight instructor since 2012.

Despite her early start, flying had not been a constant presence in her life.

Soon after getting her pilot’s license, she married William Gilland, a drywall finisher. Family life and the couple’s two kids soon took over and flying time was pushed aside. William Gilland died about 15 years ago.

“I probably flew three hours in 21 years,” Jackson said in 2012.

She was a stay-at-home mom, working periodically as a telemarketer and cashier. With her son and daughter, she practiced a multi-disciplinary form of martial arts. All three became black belts.

About 10 years ago, Jackson’s daughter began taking flying lessons and convinced her mother to give flying another go.

She took her first lesson in decades at Yeager in 2009.

She was quite taken with her flight instructor, a man named Ernie Jackson, who recently had lost his wife of 50 years.

“I knew he was going to be someone very special to me,” Jackson said in 2012.

They married about a year later.

“She had my dad, and me and my sister, and that was one time in her life, and then she was single another part of her life, and then she met Ernie,” Gilland said. “She lived an awesome life.”

Beam helped her get her instructor certification in 2012, after medical problems kept her husband out of the air.

“She was meticulous in her flying and tried to do everything right and by the book,” Beam said.

Jackson also described herself as a cautious flier.

“I’ve been called a chicken quite a few times,” she said in 2012. “I say, ‘I would rather be a live chicken than a dead duck.’ ”

Jackson is survived by her husband, her son, daughter Nancy Welch and three grandchildren, Cameron, Hayden and Alexis.

It’s still not clear what caused Saturday’s crash or who was in control of the plane.

It had been 31 years since someone died in a plane crash at Yeager.

Dan Boggs, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said he would release a preliminary report on the crash in about two weeks.

He’ll work from the plane’s wreckage and from video captured by surveillance cameras at Yeager.

The preliminary report will have factual information on things like the plane, who was in control and the weather.

A final report, on the probable cause of the crash, will take eight to 12 months.

On Monday, the plane lay in a spare hangar at Yeager’s Executive Air terminal; windows shattered, sheet metal crumpled, doors splayed open.

The nose and windshield are caved in. A propeller and the engine block had been removed. So had the two front seats.

An air freshener, “new car scent,” hung in the rear window.

As the instructor, Jackson likely would have been sitting in the right seat. Below the plane were a radio and a pilot’s headset, still connected by cord to the cockpit.

- See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com

The Cessna 172N Skyhawk that crashed at Yeager Airport on Saturday sits in a hangar at the airport on Monday, waiting for the National Transportation Safety Board to begin an investigation into the crash. Brenda Jackson, a flight instructor, was killed in the crash. Student pilot Arrin Farrar remained in serious condition Monday at CAMC.



CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Charleston flight instructor is being remembered two days after she was killed in a plane crash at Yeager Airport.

Brenda Gilland Jackson, who worked for Skylane Aviation, died Saturday afternoon, according to airport spokesman Mike Plante. The plane was owned by Skylane, a private company based out of Yeager that does flight training along with other aviation services.

Arrin Jay Farrar, 42, of Plymouth, Maine, was injured and remains in serious condition at Charleston Area Medical Center. He was taking flight lessons as a student pilot.

“I had met Brenda, did not know her well, but you sort of feel it because she’s part of the Yeager Airport family,” Plante said on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”

“I think all of us at the airport that knew her, or were aware of her, feel the gravity of the loss more acutely than you would in another kind of situation because of those bonds,” he added.

Jackson was inside the Cessna 172 Skyhawk four-seat aircraft that flipped over on Yeager’s runway 5 shortly after it took off at 12:08 p.m. A small fire erupted and the victims were pulled from the wreckage and taken to the hospital at 12:47 p.m., but Plante said it was a challenge to get them out.

“If you can imagine, the plane is on its back and so they’re suspended in their harnesses, their safety belts upside down, so the weight is on the harnesses, weight is on the buckles. I think there was also some leaking fuel and stuff like that,” he explained.

Plante said he did not want to speculate exactly where Jackson was inside the aircraft — if she was operating the plane or was in the passenger seat — but did say a report from the National Transportation Safety Board would provide more specific information.

“The NTSB is doing its work now. They’ll issue a preliminary report in about two weeks and then hopefully within about two to three months after that they’ll issue their final finding,” he said.

The investigation began Monday. NTSB Investigator Dan Boggs is in Charleston for the next few days to figure out a probable cause for the accident.

Yeager Airport is operating on a normal flight schedule.

Story and photo gallery:  http://wvmetronews.com


CHARLESTON, WV -

One man remains in serious condition at Charleston Area Medical Center after a fatal plane crash at Yeager Airport on Saturday, March 26, 2016. The woman on board that plane died at the hospital as a result of her injuries. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will not confirm if the crash happened during a part of a flight school.But did confirm that the woman on board was a flight instructor and the man had his student pilot certificate. 

"I'd sit here and talk to her if I wasn't busy. I'd talk to her about aviation or life in general. She'd give me a lot of advice about a lot of things," said James Braxton about Brenda Gilland who died as a result of injuries sustained from the crash. 

Braxton knew Gilland for more than four years after working closely with her at the Executive Air terminal at Yeager Airport. The first time he met her he knew she was someone special. 

"The first time I came up here the lady was just like a mother to me up here. She was the nicest woman you could probably ever know," he said. 

He says she spent practically all her time up at the terminal being around what she loved.

"Weekends, seven days a week, regardless if its holidays, weather, snow sun, she'd be up here," he said. 

The plane is owned by Skylane Aviation, a Charleston based company that rents planes to private instructors. On Sunday, March 27, 2016, the day after the crash, the damaged plane was moved from where it crashed near the runway to a secure hangar on airport property. Braxton is still trying to get used to what work will be like without Gilland. 

"It's going to be lonesome, really not seeing her go up," he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to take a few days examining all parts of the plane. 

"Our mission here is not just to determine what happened but also why it happened and then hopefully we can prevent future accidents which is our mission in life," said Dan Boggs, an Air Safety Investigator with the NTSB and the the investigator in charge for this crash. 

He said the NTSB will release an initial report in about two weeks and a final report with what they determine to be the probable cause of the incident won't be available for several months. 

The incident as a whole has deeply impacted those who spend their days at Yeager Airport. 

"The aviation community here just took a big hit," said co-worker of Braxton. 

Representatives from The airplane’s manufacturer and engine manufacturer are also in Charleston as part of the investigation.The last time there was a fatal crash involving a similar sized plane at Yeager Airport was in 1985. But that plane was coming in to land.

Story and video: http://www.statejournal.com










A woman who died when a small plane flipped and caught fire at Yeager Airport Saturday was a flight instructor who lived in Charleston, her friends say.


Friends of Brenda Gilland Jackson confirm she died in the accident that also injured a man just after noon on Saturday.


The aircraft, a  Cessna 172 Skyhawk, was on runway 5 when the incident happened around 12:15 p.m. The fire was extinguished, and the two people on board were removed and transported to the hospital with “significant injuries,” airport spokesman Michael Plante said Saturday.


The plane was owned by Skylane Aviation, a private company that does flight training among other aviation services. The company is owned by Joe Beam.


Dora Egnor, of Lincoln County, knew Jackson for three or four years, she said. Egnor was Jackson’s hair dresser. Jackson also gave Egnor’s grandson a flight lesson, she said. Egnor said Jackson loved her family and flying most of all.


“She was amazing because she was just a good woman, God-fearing,” Egnor said. “[She did] everything she could possibly do to help anyone in need.”


A Facebook profile for Jackson, which identified her as Brenda J. Gilland, said she went to Mount Hope High School, lived in Charleston and was self-employed. Jackson took her first flight lesson when she 14, according to a previous article in the Gazette.


Egnor said she was at work at the Southridge Wal-Mart on Saturday when she heard about the accident.


“One of the girls was flipping through her phone and she said, ‘you aren’t going to believe this,’ [and she] said it was a small-engine [plane], and I said, ‘Oh my God.’ I knew it was her before I even read about it.”


Egnor said Jackson told her once that when she died, it would be in her airplane.


“She was amazing; God gained a good angel,” Egnor said.


The name of the other passenger aboard the plane Saturday has not been released.


Dan Boggs, a safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, has arrived in Charleston and will be investigating the cause of the crash for the next two or three days. Until then he will not speculate as to what he thinks happened.


“We don’t know what happened,” Boggs said. “We don’t have any idea if it was mechanical. It’s going to take several weeks to put that storyline together.”


Saturday’s crash was the first fixed-wing fatality at Yeager Airport since 1985.


“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims,” airport director Terry Sayre said.



- Original article can be found here: http://www.wvgazettemail.com

Yeager Airport spokesman Mike Plante addressed reporters Sunday evening.
~

CHARLESTON, W.Va — An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board says a detailed investigation will begin Monday into what caused a small plane to crash Saturday afternoon at Yeager Airport killing a woman and injuring a man.

“I cannot even guess about something probable cause right now,” NTSB investigator Dan Boggs told reporters Sunday evening. “We gather all of the facts and then we figure out what the probable cause will be.”

The initial report will come in about two weeks followed by a full report which could take up to a year.

Boggs credited the work of first responders at Yeager for helping secure the scene of the crash of the Cessna 172 and moving it to a secure location. That work has put the investigation a little ahead of schedule, he said.

The names of those involved still have not been released but several media reports and social media postings identify the woman as Brenda Gilland Jackson, a Charleston flight instructor. Official information about those involved would have to come from the state Medical Examiner’s office, according to Boggs.

The plane had a problem shortly after its 12:08 p.m. takeoff. There was a small fire after the crafted flipped over on runway 5. The victims were pulled from the wreckage at 12:47 p.m. and taken to CAMC General. The woman died a short time later. The man, who was piloting, was in serious condition Sunday.

Investigators will be looking for any perishable evidence while in Charleston along with any eyewitness statements, Boggs said.

“We will probably be here for two or three days and our mission here is to not only find out what happened but why it happened,” he said. “I do have the airframe manufacturer and the engine manufacturer here with me and we will be going through that aircraft piece by piece.”

The plane was registered in Charleston and was being operated by a private citizen, Boggs said.

Original article can be found here:   http://wvmetronews.com


A woman who died when a small plane flipped and caught fire at Yeager Airport Saturday was a flight instructor who lived in Charleston, her friends say.

Friends of Brenda J. Gilland confirm she died in the accident that also injured a man just after noon on Saturday.

The aircraft, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk four-seat plane, was on runway 5 when the incident happened around 12:15 p.m. The fire was extinguished, and the two people on board were removed and transported to the hospital with “significant injuries,” airport spokesman Michael Plante said Saturday. One person died from injuries around 3:20 p.m.

Dora Egnor, of Lincoln County, knew Gilland for three or four years, she said. Egnor was Gilland’s hairdresser. Gilland also gave Egnor’s grandson a flight lesson, she said. Egnor said Gilland loved her family and flying most of all.

“She was amazing because she was just a good woman, God-fearing,” Egnor said. [She did] everything she could possibly to do help anyone in need.”

Egnor said she was at work at the Southridge Walmart on Saturday when she heard about the accident.

“One of the girls was flipping through her phone and she said, ‘you aren’t going to believe this,’ [and she] said it was a small-engine [plane], and I said ‘oh my god.’ I knew it was her before I even read about it.”

Egnor said Gilland told her once that when she died, it would be in her airplane.

“She was amazing; God gained a good angel,” Egnor said.

Federal investigators were expected to begin working to determine the cause of the accident Sunday, Plante said Saturday.

A press briefing has been scheduled for 5 p.m.

- See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com



CHARLESTON, WV -

UPDATE (11:25 p.m. 3/26/16)

One woman is dead after a plane crash at Yeager Airport early in the afternoon on March 26, 2016. Two people were on board when it crashed during takeoff and flipped upside down.

Yeager Airport spokesperson Mike Plante says a fire caused by the crash was put out in a few minutes. Then the two inside the four seat plane were taken to Charleston area Medical Center where the woman who was on board died from her injuries.

Family and friends tell 13 News Brenda J. Gilland is the woman who died in the midday crash. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)  would not say if the incident during a part of flight school. But it would confirm Brenda Gilland was a flight instructor and the male on board who is now in critical condition has his student pilot certificate.

"The aircraft is based locally here so it makes the loss all the more difficult for the airport community," said Plante.

The plane is a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, a small plane owned by Skylane Aviation which is a Charleston based company that rents planes to private instructors. The investigation into the crash is under way but it will likely be months until a cause is determined.

"That's why the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) does its' work very slowly and methodically because their job is to issue a report that hopefully if its a mechanical issue or some other kind of issue like that they'll be able to prevent similar incidences from occurring," said Plante.

He remembers the last time a plane touched down without its landing gear but doesn't remember the last time there was a crash like this.

"This is the first incident that I can remember for a long time in which an aircraft actually impacted the ground not under control," he said.

The incident closed the airport for a few hours. Gary Alford was at the terminal waiting for his wife to land on a commercial flight from Atlanta around the time the crash occurred.

"All the sudden the sirens went off and I didn't know what was going on, fire trucks started going all out to the runways and so on and I was afraid something had happened to the Delta flight," he said.

The Robinsons were waiting to go to San Diego.

"We noticed a lot of uniform people kind of racing to the windows to look out so we followed and then learned about the small plane crash," said Craig Robinson.

The male involved in crash is still in critical condition.

The NTSB will start their part of the work into finding out the cause of the crash Sunday, March 27, 2016.  

A crash involving a plane slightly bigger in Eastern Kanawha county killed two people in April 2014. The plane from the incident on Saturday, March 26, 2016 will remain beside the runway where it crashed until the investigation is complete. The airport will operate normally while that is done. 

UPDATE (3:19 p.m. 3/26/16)

According to crews on scene at Yeager Airport, a woman who was on board a small plane that flipped during a landing Saturday afternoon, has died due to her injuries. 

UPDATE (2:34 p.m. 3/26/16)

According to crews on scene, Yeager Airport is back open

UPDATE (12:56 p.m. 3/26/16)

Yeager Airport is closed until further notice after a single-engine plane flipped over on landing Saturday afternoon, according to airport spokesman Mike Plante.

At approximately 12:15 p.m., a Cessna 172 Skyhawk overturned upon landing on runway 5. There was a small fire, but it was extinguished quickly. The two people on board were removed from the aircraft and transported to the hospital.

The Yeager Airport National Guard and Charleston Fire Departments responded to the incident.

UPDATE (12:47 p.m. 3/26/16)

Yeager Airport spokesman Mike Plante said the airport will remain closed until further notice.

ORIGINAL

A single-engine plane flipped over on the runway Saturday afternoon at Yeager Airport.

There appears to be at least two injuries with one entrapment.

The Yeager Airport National Guard and Charleston Fire Departments are responding.

Original article can be found here: http://www.tristateupdate.com



CHARLESTON, WV (WCHS/WVAH) — One person was killed and another seriously injured in a plane crash at Yeager Airport Saturday afternoon.

Yeager Airport spokesman Mike Plante said a female passenger was killed and another was seriously injured when a single-engine Cessna Skyhawk 172 crashed during takeoff on runway five. He said the plane flipped onto its top and there was a small fire.

He said the NTSB and FAA have been called in to investigate the incident and determine the cause of the crash.

Two people were injured after a small aircraft crashed at Yeager Airport Saturday afternoon.

Yeager Airport spokesman Mike Plante said a single-engine Cessna Skyhawk 172 crashed during takeoff on runway five. He said the plane flipped onto its top and there was a small fire.

Emergency crews quickly arrived on scene to extinguish the flames and got the two passengers out of the aircraft.

Plante said both passengers were injured and transported to the hospital, but the extent of their injuries have not been released.

Plante said the runway at Yeager Airport was closed as the investigation into the incident continued. No flights were going in or out of Yeager Airport for more than two hours. The airport reopened the runway at about 2:30 p.m.

He said the NTSB and FAA have been called in to investigate the incident and determine the cause of the crash.

Stay tuned to Eyewitness News for the latest updates.

Multiple emergency crews are on the scene of a plane crash at Yeager Airport.

Dispatchers said a single-engine, Cessna 172 crashed off of runway five at the airport at about 12:15 p.m. Saturday.

They said it appears there are at least two passengers in the crash, but crews have yet to release other details.

The runway is closed, and no estimated time has been given for when it will be reopened.

Original article can be found here: http://wchstv.com 





UPDATE @ 3:38 p.m


CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) --One person has died after a small plane flipped on the runway at Yeager Airport.

Yeager Airport Spokesperson Mike Plante says one person has died from injuries sustained during the crash.

One other person was injured in that crash.

They remain in critical condition.

UPDATE @ 2:41 p.m.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Yeager Airport is back open after a small plane flipped on the runway.

It happened just after noon.

Two people were injured and are reported to be in critical condition.

There is no update on their conditions at this time.

Crews on scene tell WSAZ the plane will stay where it is until the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration conduct an investigation as to why it crashed.

ORIGINAL STORY 3/26 @ 1:20 p.m.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Two people are in critical condition after their plane flipped on the runway at Yeager Airport.

It happened just after noon Saturday.

A spokesperson for Yeager Airport says a Cessna 172 Skyhawk overturned on landing at Yeager Airport on runway 5.

According to spokesperson Mike Plante, there was a small fire that has been extinguished.

Two people were injured in the crash.

Dispatchers say the two are in critical condition and were taken to the hospital.

Original article can be found here: http://www.wsaz.com


2 comments:

  1. In reference to the women from Charleston, WV, the reporter stated she got her pilots license before she could drive... that is incorrect. A pilot can start flying before driving, but must be 16 years old to solo a powered airplane and 17 years old to be fully certificated as a pilot. Those rules were in place long before she started flying at 14. So Unless she never took drivers ed in school or got her drivers license at 16 (like everyone else) that reporters statement is simply not true.

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  2. @ILSRWY4 Before "correcting" the reporter, you should find out at what age she learned to drive a vehicle/got licensed. Not everyone obtains their drivers license (regardless of whether or not they are able to physically drive a vehicle) at the minimum age.

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