Cargo Plane Rolled Left On Takeoff

The pilot of a DeHavilland Dash-6 cargo plane died Wednesday, when his plane was felled on takeoff from Barnstable Municipal Airport (HYA) in Massachusetts.

FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said the aircraft was about 500 feet down the runway when it crashed at 10:03 am local time. Witnesses said the plane was already in the air off runway 24, but rolled to the left and impacted the ground; HYA airport manager Quincy "Doc" Mosby said the plane got about 200 feet in the air.

According to the Boston Globe, pilot Mark Conway, 43, started flying for Wiggens Airways last December. Wiggins president and CEO Jim Thomforde told the paper Conway flew the route from Hyannis to Nantucket twice a day, and had over 3,600 hours time since becoming a pilot in 1984.

The aircraft had only 200 pounds of cargo onboard -- small packages for UPS and FedEx -- when it crashed, Thomforde told the Cape Cod Times.

The accident plane (shown above) was the company's only Twin Otter. Wiggins also operates Beechcraft 99s and A100s and Cessna Caravans.

Investigators with the FAA and NTSB were on the scene Thursday.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 656WA        Make/Model: DHC6      Description: DHC-6 Twin Otter (UV-18, CC-138)
  Date: 06/18/2008     Time: 1404

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

LOCATION
  City: HYANNIS   State: MA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  N656WA, WIGGINS FLIGHT 6601, A DEHAVILLAND DHC6 TWIN OTTER AIRCRAFT,
  CRASHED ON DEPARTURE, THE ONE PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, HYANNIS,
  MA

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: 1401Z 21010KT 10SM CLR 21/08 A2979

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Take-off      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: BOSTON, MA  (EA61)                    Entry date: 06/19/2008

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.wiggins-air.com