Pilot Reported Icing Prior To Crash

The crash of a Lancair IV-P near Snow Hill, NC claimed two lives on Thursday. Pilot Mark Sobel, 56, and his wife Joan Wilson, 56, were both killed when the high performance single crashed in open farmland around 1330 on Thursday about 20 miles southwest of Greenville.

Prior to the crash, the pilot reported having icing on the wings, said Patty McQuillan, spokeswoman for the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety in North Carolina to the Hartford Courant. Officials said that weather in the area had been warm Thursday. The plane (type shown below) disappeared from radar and lost radio contact, she said.

Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman with the Federal Aviation Administration, said the plane was flying from Page Field in Fort Meyers, FL to Hartford-Brainard Airport in Hartford, CT. She said the plane was destroyed by fire.

Pilots and acquaintances of the couple noted that Sobel was a highly qualified pilot with lots of experience and expressed dismay at the news.

"I'm shocked," said Thomas Love, a pilot who is president of the hangar association Sobel belonged to. "It's not something you would've expected of him."

Love said Sobel had bought the Lancair plane specifically to make trips between his homes in South Windsor, CT and Estero, FL.

Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

IDENTIFICATION
 Regis#: 101BX    Make/Model: LNC4   Description: Lancair 4, 4P
 Date: 05/08/2008   Time: 1709

 Event Type: Accident  Highest Injury: Fatal   Mid Air: N  Missing: N
 Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
 City: KINSTON  State: NC  Country: US

DESCRIPTION
 IFR FLIGHT REQUESTED LOWER ALTITUDE DUE TO ICING, RADAR AND RADIO CONTACT
 LOST AT 15,000', KINSTON, NC

INJURY DATA   Total Fatal:  2
         # Crew:  1   Fat:  1   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 
         # Pass:  1   Fat:  1   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 
         # Grnd:     Fat:  0   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 

WEATHER: 22007G14K 7SM-RA BKN028 BKN035 23/18

OTHER DATA
 Activity: Unknown   Phase: Cruise   Operation: OTHER

 FAA FSDO: GREENSBORO, NC (SO05)        Entry date: 05/09/2008

FMI: www.ntsb.gov