CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. – The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on an Osage Beach plane crash that left two dead and one seriously injured.
According to the report, no mechanical issues with the airframe or engine that would have hindered the plane’s flight were visible upon inspection.
The airplane was equipped with a system designed to warn the pilot of mechanical failures.
Investigators found that the trim tab jackscrew was extended above the drum, with about 17 threads exposed (about 1 and ¾”), which corresponded to a full nose-up trim setting.
Witnesses of the crash told investigators that they saw the plane flying with the tail lower than the nose before it banked heavily to the right, crashing into a wooded area.
The witnesses did not report any unusual sounds coming from the plane.
The plane crashed just over half a mile from where it took off. The preliminary report did not reveal the cause of the crash.
22-year-old passenger Hayden Ritchhart and the 19-year-old pilot Evan Vandiver were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash and 54-year-old Gary Vandiver was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.