Sun, Feb 01, 2009
Pilot Called Mayday, Reported Being Low On Fuel
The crash of a small twin-engine plane near Huntington, WV's
Tri-State Airport (HTS) Friday afternoon claimed the lives of all
six persons on board, with fuel exhaustion suspected as the most
likely cause of the accident.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said, "The
pilot issued a mayday. The mayday was based on low fuel." Peters
said Tri-State air traffic controllers were talking with the pilot
when the PA-34 Seneca made a sudden 180-degree turn and they lost
contact with him.
The tower was "struggling with the pilot to maintain course
alignment" before it crashed, National Transportation Safety Board
investigator Brian Rayner said. Reports indicate snow and poor
visibility prevailed in the area at the time of the crash.
Raynor said the airplane was destroyed as it severed a power
line and impacted in a wooded area. Raynor said investigators had
not yet established the flight's origin or destination, nor had the
identities of the deceased been released.
Witness Chris Smith and his daughter were outside when the
stricken plane passed overhead. "It was flying way too low," he
told The Herald Dispatch of Huntington. "It was flying so low I
could have thrown a rock up and hit the bottom of the plane."
According to the Associated Press, Smith's wife Amanda heard the
crash, just before the power went out. "My husband ran in with my
daughter because they were sleigh riding and said, 'Call 911. A
plane crashed,"' Amanda said.
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