Authorities seek clues in plane crash
Published 10:55 am Sunday, February 1, 2009
By Teresa Moore
The Tribune
WAYNE COUNTY, W.Va. — An investigation team led by the National Transportation Safety Board is combing the wreckage of an airplane crash near Tri-State Airport Friday afternoon, looking for clues as to why the plane went down.
All six people on board were killed.
Their names were not available as of press time.
The Piper PA 34 twin engine airplane crashed in a wooded area along Plymale Branch at approximately 2 p.m. Friday.
Brian Rayner, senior air investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said the pilot alerted an air traffic controller at the airport that he was low on fuel and was attempting to land.
Rayner said it is not known at this time why the plane would be low on fuel. Kevin Price, fire chief for Tri-State Airport, said the controller was in communication with the pilot for approximately 15 minutes before the crash.
The plane is believed to be owned by a Wilmington, Del., company. Rayner said he did not have any information on the plane’s destination or departure location — except that they were not enroute to the tri-state area.
“This was not their destination,” Rayner said. “The tower advised they were coming here due to low fuel status.”
Price said while the response was initially a rescue operation, hope faded when emergency personnel got to the crash site.
“Very early on I realized this was a recovery (effort),” Price said. “As soon as I was on the scene.”
The bodies of the victims, all believed to be adults, have been taken to the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office in Charleston.
Rayner said the plane was “completed fragmented” by the crash and that the cockpit and cabin were completely destroyed as well. Rayner said the plane was “largely undamaged by fire” although there were some small, scattered post-crash fires at the wreckage site. Investigators are looking for one propeller that has not yet been found in the wreckage.
Price said the heavy snowfall reduced visibility in the area at the time of the crash.
Weather was a factor in locating the crash and remains a factor in trying to determine what happened and why. “Weather is going to affect the order in which we do things,” Rayner said. “Our number one priority is to get the engine off the hillside today.”
The final report on what happened could take up to a year to complete.
Both Price and Rayner praised the six area fire departments as well as local law enforcement and other emergency agencies who responded to the crash.