Wreckage Found By Victim's Sons

After a search that spanned nearly a week, and involved hundreds of Civil Air Patrol volunteers, it was the sons of missing pilot David K. Weiss who found the wreckage of the lost Cessna 172... as well as their father's body... this weekend in a sparsely populated area of Franklin County, PA.

"We found the wreckage of the aircraft with no survivor," said Lt. Col. Robert Ayers of the Civil Air Patrol.

The Herald-Mail reports Steve and Mark Weiss found the accident scene Sunday afternoon during a ground search. The wreckage was located on a wooded mountain slope under dense foliage that had obstructed rescuers' views from the air, authorities said.

An autopsy will be conducted on Weiss's body Monday afternoon, and the NTSB has sent an investigative team to the accident site to determine the as-yet-unknown cause of the accident.

"I can tell you from the family that Mr. Weiss had no medical problems," Franklin County Coroner Jeffrey R. Conner said during a press conference Sunday night.

As Aero-News reported last week, David Weiss took off April 25 from Gaithersburg Airport in Maryland, on what was described as a routine proficiency flight. The 72-year-old man later landed at Frederick Municipal Airport, before departing back to Gaithersburg.

Based on the routing of calls to Weiss's cell phone, search crews had focused their search on an area between a cell tower near Saint Thomas, PA and an airport in Chambersburg, PA that authorities believed Weiss may have been attempting to reach.

**   Report created 5/1/2006   Record 2

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 7604G        Make/Model: C172      Description: 172, P172, R172, Skyhawk, Hawk XP, Cutla
  Date: 04/25/2006     Time: 0000

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

LOCATION
  City: MERCERSBURG   State: PA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  ACFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES IN A HEAVILY WOODED AREA, THE ONE
  PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, THE SUBJECT OF AN ALERT NOTICE, IT WAS
  LOCATED NEAR SHIMSTOWN ROAD, FRANKLIN COUNTY, MERCERSBURG, PA

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

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA

  Departed: GAITHERSBURG, MD            Dep Date:    Dep. Time:     
  Destination: FREDERICK, MD            Flt Plan: VFR          Wx Briefing: 
  Last Radio Cont: 
  Last Clearance: 

  FAA FSDO: HARRISBURG, PA  (EA13)                Entry date: 05/01/2006

FMI: www.ntsb.gov