The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.
Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Atlanta, Georgia
Textron Aviation; Wichita, Kansas
Lycoming Engines; Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Location: Gainesville, GA
Accident Number: ERA21FA140
Date & Time: February 26, 2021, 18:11 Local
Registration: N3652C
Aircraft: Cessna R182
Injuries: 3 Fatal
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal
On February 26, 2021, about 1811 eastern standard time, a Cessna R182 airplane, N3652C, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Gainesville, Georgia. The pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The airplane took off from Lee Gilmore Memorial Airport (GVL), Gainesville Georgia, destined for Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB), Daytona Beach, Florida.
Prior to the airplane’s departure to DAB, between 1748 and 1758, a pilot at GVL observed the airplane at the end of runway 11, behind the hold short lines, just to the left of the taxiway centerline. At that time the engine was operating and there were no lights illuminated on the airplane.
According to preliminary Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control (ATC) information, while on the ground at GVL the pilot established communication with the clearance delivery controller and requested an instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance to DAB via a flight plan that included a route of flight over the Dobbins Very High Frequency Omni-directional Radio-range (“Dobbins VOR”). The pilot also requested an en route altitude of 3,000 ft msl. The controller issued the pilot an IFR clearance to DAB and instructed the pilot to “hold for release.” The pilot advised the controller that they would utilize Runway 11 for departure and depart within 5 minutes, to which the controller issued a release for departure with instructions to fly heading 140°, maintain 3,000 ft, and issued a clearance void time of 10 minutes.
The airplane departed GVL about 1808 to the southeast and the pilot established communication with the satellite radar controller. The controller instructed the pilot to “ident” and “say altitude.” The pilot responded that they were climbing through 1,800 for 3,000 ft. The controller radar identified the airplane 1 mile southeast of GVL and issued the current altimeter setting. The airplane then began
turning southwest as it climbed through 2,200 ft. The controller informed the pilot that the airplane appeared to be on a westbound heading and asked if he was on the assigned heading of 140°; however, the pilot did not respond. The airplane began a rapid descent and then the Low Altitude Alert System activated at the controller’s station. The controller issued a safety alert to the pilot as the
airplane was descending through 1,400 ft, but the pilot did not respond. The airplane was then observed on the radar display climbing to 2,500 ft, before it began another rapid descent which was followed by a loss of radar contact.
Preliminary track data indicated that after the airplane departed runway 11 at GVL, it began a right turn and continued climbing, and ground speed increased until about 1809:25, when ground speed started to decrease. The airplane reached a maximum altitude of 2,200 ft msl, before it began to descend. While remaining in a right turn the airplane continued to descend until about 1809:34. The airplane’s ground speed then increased from about 75 knots to about 165 knots before it began to decrease, and then altitude and ground speed varied between 1,700-2,000 ft msl and 100-110 knots. At 1810:19 the airplane’s ground speed began to decrease rapidly from about 100 knots to below 30 knots while climbing from about 2,000 to 2,500 ft, before its ground speed increased and the airplane descended rapidly until track data was lost.
Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane impacted wooded terrain about 3/4 mile southwest of the approach end of Runway 5 at GVL. The outboard half of left wing was located in a tree. The engine and portions of the right wing, cabin, and empennage were found approximately 550 ft from the initial impact point with the tree.
All the flight control cables exhibited signatures of tension overload with their associated cable ends attached to the cockpit flight controls and flight control surfaces. The attitude indicator was disassembled, and rotational scoring was present on the gyro rotor and the rotor housing. Disassembly of vacuum pump revealed that the composite drive assembly, carbon rotor and carbon vanes were intact.
Examination of the propeller and engine revealed that the propeller remained attached to the engine crankshaft flange and the engine remained attached to the airplane firewall. Both propeller blades were free to rotated in the hub. One propeller blade was displaced aft about 50° and the outboard 8-inches was bent aft about 90°. The blade tip was broken off, and the trailing edge of the bent portion exhibited “S” bending. The tip of the second propeller blade was bent forward and twisted slightly toward the blade face. The engine crankshaft was rotated by turning the propeller and continuity of the crankshaft to the rear gears and to the valve train was confirmed. Compression and suction were observed from all cylinders except from the No. 4 cylinder which was impact damaged.
The wreckage was retained for further examination.
Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information
Aircraft Make: Cessna
Registration: N3652C
Model/Series: R182
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: No
Operator: On file
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None
Operator Designator Code:
Meteorological Information and Flight Plan
Conditions at Accident Site: IMC
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: KGVL,1275 ft msl
Observation Time: 18:53 Local
Distance from Accident Site: 1 Nautical Miles
Temperature/Dew Point: 7°C /6°C
Lowest Cloud Condition:
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 7 knots / 18 knots, 70°
Lowest Ceiling: Broken / 400 ft AGL
Visibility: 6 miles
Altimeter Setting: 30.16 inches Hg
Type of Flight Plan Filed: IFR
Departure Point: Gainesville, GA (GVL)
Destination: Daytona Beach, FL (DAB)
Wreckage and Impact Information
Crew Injuries: 1 Fatal
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: 2 Fatal
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 3 Fatal
Latitude, Longitude: 34.262222,-83.848611
Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation may contact them by email eyewitnessreport@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov.
Dan Delnoce and Courtney Flanders at their wedding in the Bahamas in April of 2018. Delnoce and Flanders were killed in a plane crash in Gainesville on Friday, February 26, 2021.Friends said a Gainesville couple who died in a plane crash Friday were "beautiful souls" -- loving, happy, engaged and fun to be around.
Dan Delnoce, 44, and his wife Courtney Flanders, 45, were killed after the Cessna 182 they were in crashed in a neighborhood off Memorial Park Drive shortly after taking off from Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville. Dan Delnoce’s brother, Matthew Delnoce, 39, from Ohio, was also on board the plane and died in the accident. The group was headed to Daytona Beach, Florida.
“They were just super outgoing and gregarious people," said Scott Dixon, owner of Scott's Downtown restaurant and a close friend of the couple. "They were just the kind of people that, when you’re around, you can’t help but feel comfortable and engaged and happy."
As a pilot himself, Dixon said there are always inherent risks with flying.
“What happened, how it happened, why it happened or any of those things are really fairly inconsequential at this point because the bottom line is that … three beautiful souls are no longer with us,” Dixon said.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board remained on the scene of the crash Monday, searching for clues that might tell them what happened to the ill-fated flight.
Dan Delnoce worked as a physician’s assistant for Specialty Orthopaedics in Gainesville, and Flanders was a nurse anesthetist in Gainesville, Dixon said.
“They also worked in professions where they got to see and got to know a lot of people in the community, and I think that that goes a long way toward … how well-loved they are and how incredibly missed that they will be in the community,” Dixon said.
Dan Delnoce and Flanders each had two children from previous marriages, said Russ Moore, a close friend of the couple.
“Courtney’s got two girls, and Dan has a boy and a girl, ages between 8 and 15, give or take. They blended right in and the kids liked each other,” Moore said.
Dan Delnoce and Flanders were coming up on the third anniversary of their marriage, which occurred in an intimate ceremony in the Bahamas in April 2018, Moore said.
“Courtney’s dad had a house down there, and Dan’s mom went with us and it was just the four of us, and they hired an old preacher on the island to come over to the house and married them by the pool,” Moore said about the wedding.
According to Moore, Dan Delnoce would always dive deep into his passions, such as flying and cars.
Moore said he and his wife loved to travel and go to concerts with Dan Delnoce and Flanders, and they even recently took a trip to North Georgia for a special occasion.
“We were just with them on Valentine’s Day, and we went to Dahlonega and went to some wineries, and had dinner that night and spent the night with them,” Moore said.
One of Dixon’s favorite memories of Dan Delnoce and Flanders was a trip to see Jimmy Buffett live during what many would consider unfavorable weather.
“It was an outdoor concert and, you know, the weather was absolutely atrocious. We had thunderstorms and all kinds of rain, thunder and lightning, regardless of that, you could be with them and it would still be the best time, even with adverse situations,” Dixon said.
For those wishing to help the Delnoce family, a GoFundMe page was created Monday morning and had raised over $5,000 as of Monday afternoon.
Dan Delnoce and Courtney Flanders Update, March 1: Three people killed when a single-engine plane crashed in the Memorial Park Drive area of Gainesville have been identified.
The victims are Dan Delnoce, 44, of Gainesville; Courtney Flanders, 45, of Gainesville; and Matthew Delnoce, 39, of Ohio, according to a Hall County Sheriff's Office press release Saturday, Feb. 27.
Dan Delnoce and Flanders were married, and Matthew and Dan are brothers.
Scott Dixon of Scott’s Downtown said he was in the restaurant when the news broke. A number of doctors were having dinner when a number of pagers started going off.
Dixon said he met Flanders, a nurse anesthetist, through a mutual friend and met Dan Delnoce when the couple started dating several years ago. He described the pair as “absolutely a joy to be around.”
Dixon recalled a memory of going with the couple about two years ago to a Jimmy Buffett concert. Even when a torrential downpour washed over the show, they never stopped smiling, he said.
"They were not only individually just really great people to be around, but together they really were just such a great couple and loved each other so much,” Dixon said. “And all of that showed, all of their joy and their joy with each other and joy of life.”
Dan Delnoce and Flanders each had two children who are between the ages of 9 and 15.
Specialty Orthopaedics Dr. John Vachtsevanos said Dan Delnoce had been part of the clinic’s family since 2007 and was also a certified athletic trainer.
“He was a trailblazer in his profession, always finding (a) way to expand the field,” Vachtsevanos wrote in an email. “He was the first athletic trainer to join our practice in 2007, and he paved the way for an additional nine certified athletic trainers to join in the following years.”
Vachtsevanos said Dan had a passion for life, whose “larger than life personality made him the center of attention wherever he went.”
“He loved to laugh, he loved telling stories, and he never met a stranger,” he said. “His legacy of generosity and loyalty shines through in his children's lives. His commitment to our company and his impact on our employees is immeasurable.”
Dixon said he and Dan Delnoce started flight training around the same time a few years ago, with Delnoce logging well over a couple hundred hours.
One of the last times Dixon saw Flanders was when he requested her to perform the anesthesia for a surgery in December, though they had talked a few times after that.
"They touched a lot of people and a lot of lives in the area, so it's definitely a big loss to the community as well as those of us that were closer with them," Dixon said.
A Gofundme account was set up for the Delnoce family.
The bodies have been taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab for autopsy. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are working other aspects of the crash.
The safety board did not have any new information Monday, March 1. A spokesman said a preliminary report should be out in two weeks, and a final report would come in one to two years.
According to the FAA, Dan Delnoce was certified as a private pilot.
HALL COUNTY, Georgia — Investigators have released the names of the three victims that died in a fatal Hall County plane crash on Friday.
The Hall County Sheriff's Office identified the victims as 44-year-old Daniel Allan Delnoce, of Gainesville, 45-year-old Courtney Flanders, of Gainesville, and 39-year-old Matthew Delnoce of Ohio.
Authorities said the crash happened near Memorial park Drive and Atlanta Highway after the Florida-bound airplane left a local airport on Friday afternoon. Hall County Fire spokesperson Zach Brackett additionally reported that the aircraft crashed into a ravine just north of Memorial Park Drive.
According to Division Fire Chief Keith Smith with Gainesville FIre, someone traveling in the area was actually one of the first to realize something was wrong.
"A passerby noticed debris on the roadway and called 911," he said. "They also looked down into the - across the street there into the wooded area and did see plane debris."
While in the county, a city fire station was one of the closest to the scene and firefighters from there were among the first to arrive.
Four adults and one child were also displaced due to fuel falling on their home. Smith later elaborated that, not only did fuel land on the mobile home, but a piece of the wing actually plunged into a bedroom.
"That's part of the debris field that extends down Cross Street, across Memorial Park Drive and down into the wooded area which leads over into Catalina subdivision," he said.
He added that the residents were home at the time and eating dinner but were amazingly unharmed. They have since been referred to the American Red Cross for additional assistance.
Hall County Sheriff's Office will continue to handle the death investigation at this time and will give an update when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation finishes the autopsy. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating and working on other aspects of the crash.
