Plane He Was Flying Went Down Shortly After Takeoff From Orange County, VA Airport

A teenage pilot was fatally injured Sunday when the Piper PA-28 he was flying went down in a field shortly after takeoff from the Orange County, VA airport (KOMH) southwest of Washington, D.C.

According to a statement from the Virginia State Police, the plane went down around 9:45 a.m. Sunday, March 30. The 1974 Piper single-engine, fixed-wing plane crashed in a field east of the Orange County Airport. The aircraft's only occupant and pilot, Ryan L. McCall, 16, of Spotsylvania, VA, died at the scene. McCall's remains were transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner for examination and autopsy.

Television station WVIR reports that McCall's family released a statement saying that Ryan was "a typical teenager whom we loved so much and who himself had such a passion for flying that he had already earned his license to pilot at the young age of 16."

The family requested privacy in the statement released to the media.

An NTSB preliminary report should be released early next week.

(Image provided by the Virginia State Police)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov