Airplane Was Being Flown By Owner Of Holbrook Racing Parts Of Chattanooga

A accident involving a PA-31 Navajo just after takeoff from Dalton Municipal Airport (KDNN) in Dalton, GA on Saturday afternoon fatally injured drag-racer Donald Lee Holbrook, 52, the owner of Holbrook Performance Parts of Chattanooga, TN.

The accident occurred about 1615 EDT Saturday. The Navajo (similar airplane pictured in file photo) had reportedly just departed from Dalton Municipal when it lost power and went down in a wooded area in Whitfield County, GA, about 50 yards from a home near a 10 acre private lake. A post-impact fire consumed the airplane.

The Times Free Press of Chattanooga, TN, reports that the people who first arrived at the accident scene described the airplane in pieces and engulfed in flames with intense heat coming from the fire. One witness who saw the aircraft pass low over a residential neighborhood said that it appeared the right engine was not running, and the left engine was "sputtering." Witness said it appeared that the pilot was attempting to return to the airport at the time of the accident.

Holbrook's company in Chattanooga supplies parts for nitro and alcohol racers, according to the company website.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov