BATH COUNTY, Va. – The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the deadly Bath County plane crash that resulted in the deaths of five individuals: three men, one woman and a 3-year-old boy.
As we’ve reported previously, the incident occurred on March 10 as the private plane was attempting to land on Runway 25 at the Ingalls Field Airport and crashed in a wooded area about 200 feet away. The flight began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and had been scheduled to land at Ingalls Field Airport. According to the plane owner’s attorney and family friend, those aboard the plane were slated to attend an event at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia.
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On March 20, Virginia State Police released a report that identified the victims. The pilot was identified as Claudio Jose Alberto Colmenares Perez and the first officer was identified as Gagan Gupasandra Srinivas Reddy. The passengers were identified as Alfredo Diaz, Kseniia Shanina, and a 3-year-old boy, Nicholas Diez.
[READ MORE: Who are the victims of the Ingalls Field plane crash?]
According to preliminary Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control audio recordings, the flight departed from Florida at about 12:46 p.m., and at about 2:30, flight crews told the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center that they had received current weather conditions at the Ingalls Field Airport and further advised that they wanted to land at runway 25.
The controller then cleared the flight to the AHLER intersection in what the report referred to as an initial fix for the plane’s landing at runway 25, which was located about 10 miles northeast of the airport.
At about 2:41 p.m., the flight crew stated that they had the current weather and requested to descend from 7,000 feet to 6,000 feet. Minutes later, the flight crew advised that there was no traffic between the plane and the airport, requesting to switch to the common traffic advisory frequency. There were no further radio communications recorded between the controller and the flight crew following this.
According to an airport staff member who was monitoring the CTAF, right before the incident, he heard two radio calls from an airplane, announcing that they were set to land on runway 25; however, shortly after, he heard a crash and turned to see smoke coming from the approach end of runway 25.
The report details that the initial impact point occurred about 300 feet from the runway, resulting in extensive thermal and impact damage to the plane. Furthermore, all primary flight control surfaces and major portions of the airplane were located at the scene of the crash. The report indicates that the right main landing gear was the only major portion of the airplane that was found next to runway 25.
The airplane’s cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was located in the debris and was forwarded to the National Transportation Safety Board Vehicle Recorder’s Laboratory in Washington, D.C, according to the report.
10 News has covered this incident extensively. To see more of our coverage, click here.
You can read the NTSB’s preliminary report in full below:
Aviation Investigation Preliminary Report by Jazmine Otey on Scribd