KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on a plane crash that killed five people in Kill Devil Hills on Sept. 28.
The Cirrus SR22 aircraft crashed near the runway at the First Flight Airport near the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The crash caused a fire the report deemed “significant,” and all five people on board died.
The pilot had departed from Moore County Airport in Carthage, N.C., before stopping at Ocracoke Island Airport and Dare County Regional Airport. He then continued to First Flight Airport.
During his approach, the pilot entered a left-hand traffic pattern for runway 21, even though the published pattern for this runway is a right-hand pattern. He descended and flew above the runway without landing, then climbed and rejoined the pattern.
On the second approach, he was high and fast, according to witnesses. As the plane passed the midpoint of the runway, it made a steep left turn and struck the top of a stand of trees that are about 50 feet tall. It came to rest about 300 feet east of the runway in heavily wooded terrain.
Those who died in the crash were Shashwat Ajit Adhikari, 31, of Silver Spring, Md.; Jason Ray Campbell, 43, of Southern Pines, N.C.; Kate McAllister Neely, 39, of Southern Pines; Matthew Arthur Fassnacht, 44, of Marietta, Ga.; and an unnamed 6-year-old.
Preliminary review of recorded audio communications did not reveal any distress calls from the pilot, the report states. The wind was at about 7 miles per hour, gusting to 16 miles per hour.
The wreckage of the plane was heavily damaged by the crash and ensuing fire, but NTSB investigators were able to collect some of it, including a flight data recorder, to aid in the investigation.
NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said most final reports are issued within one to two years after the crash.
