Pilot Fatally Injured When The Plane Went Down In Ocala, FL

An NTSB official said in a media briefing Sunday that the landing gear on a Cessna 340 which went down Friday near Ocala International Airport was nearly fully retracted, and the gear handle was in the up position.

The accident fatally injured the pilot, P. Allen Golson, who had recently been appointed as the head of Ocala Health Systems. His wife, the only passenger in the plane, sustained non-life-threatening injuries, but was transported to a local hospital.

The Ocala Star-Banner reports on its website Ocala.com that Golson's plane went down Friday just after noon in a field half a mile from the airport. Golson had reportedly been cleared for his approach, but had not been given final clearance to land.

NTSB senior air safety investigator Ralph Hicks told reporters that the 340's gear handle was in the up position, and the gear was almost fully retracted. He would not speculate on whether Golson was executing a missed approach. He said the early investigation showed no "obvious signs of failure" in either of the airplanes engines.

Hicks said that the FAA reports that Golson had bought the plane in December, and had recorded 15 hours in it prior to the accident. He had owned a similar aircraft prior to purchasing the 340.

The NTSB's official preliminary report is due out in about a week.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov