Repositioning Flight Goes Down In Heavy Rain, High Winds

A Cessna 402 operating as Cape Air Flight 1055 crashed Friday night in West Tisbury, MA. The pilot was the sole occupant of the repositioning flight, and was fatally injured.

The plane (type shown above) had departed from Martha's Vineyard Airport, bound for Boston's Logan International Airport. It went down at about 8:05 pm, FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said.

Cape Air spokeswoman Michelle Haynes said the flight took off from Runway 33, headed for Logan to pick up passengers. Haynes told the Cape Cod Times airport officials reported heavy rain and high winds at the time of the plane's departure, but she had no information on the cause of the crash.

According to the Associated Press, State Police Lt. Eric Anderson reported a house near the site of the impact was damaged by crash debris, but no one on the ground was injured. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

A statement by Haynes posted on Cape Air's website said the pilot of the twin Cessna was 61-year-old Captain David D. Willey, who had flown for the airline for the past three and a half years.

"Dave Willey had a deep passion for aviation and was an experienced and exemplary pilot," said Cape Air CEO Dan Wolf. "Dave's love of flying was eclipsed only by his love for his family. Dave will be deeply missed by family, friends and all of us at Cape Air."

Cape Air operates a fleet of over 50 Cessna 402C Utililiners and three ATR 42s, and is the largest independent regional airline in the US. It flew over 650,000 passengers last year, to destinations in the Northeast, Florida, the Caribbean and Micronesia.

 As ANN reported, the airline briefly grounded its fleet of 402s last year, after finding abnormal engine wear linked to a crankshaft counterweight in the Continental Teledyne TSIO-520s used on the Cessna twins.

FMI: www.flycapeair.com