FBI Involvement Termed "Unusual"

Michael Keilty was flying from Waterbury-Oxford (CT) Airport to Ticonderoga (NY) last month when the Piper Navajo (file photo of type, below) in which he was a passenger crashed in upstate New York. Now, the Connecticut Post reports the 40-year old Keilty was being investigated by the FBI at the time of his death.

"The FBI involvement is very unusual," Ticonderoga Police Chief Jeff Cooke told the Post. Cooke said he'd spoken with the FBI agent in charge of the investigation.

Keilty was reportedly going to see his wife in New York when the plane went down. The pilot, Capitol Aviation operator Milton Marshall, 76, was also killed in the mishap.

We're waiting to see where the FBI is going with this," Cooke told the Connecticut paper. He talk about the nature of the FBI investigation, but did say it centered on Keilty, who already was being investigated by the agency, according to the Post.

"Right now, we don't have anything to show that this was anything other than an accident," Cooke said to the paper. He also said his own investigation continues and autopsy results for both men on board the Navajo haven't yet been finished.

Marshall's daughter, Kathy Leonzi, told the Post she was suspicious of Keilty, with whom she'd spoken on the telephone. She said she had never met him, although he'd apparently flown with her father at least twice before the July 10th accident. She said she had a feeling something was terribly wrong when she heard of the crash.

"It was shocking, and I knew something was wrong the moment it happened because my dad had flown more than 32,000 hours and was very safety conscious," Leonzi told the Post. "My dad was meticulous about his flying. He would never crash into trees. It just didn't make sense."

FMI: www.ntsb.gov