NTSB: Amateur-built airplane began to break up before fatal crash near Kingman

KINGMAN — A Nevada man's experimental small plane crashed in northwestern Arizona after breaking up in midair, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released Thursday.

Mohave County Sheriff's officials said previously that the pilot, 73-year-old Richard Dennis Moynihan of Boulder City, was the only person aboard the single-engine plane when it crashed about 1:35 p.m. Feb. 19 near Triangle Airpark about 45 miles northwest of Kingman.

Sheriff's officials previously said Moynihan died at the scene.

Moynihan owned an RV-7A with a certification issued in February 2019, federal aircraft registration records stated.

According to the NTSB preliminary report, the amateur-built Vans RV-7A had "an in-flight breakup" while making a "rapid descending turn" and then spiraled nose-down into the ground.

"Several pieces of aircraft structure were seen falling from the airplane as it descended to the ground," the preliminary report said.

The crash destroyed the plane and left debris scattered near U.S. 93, the sheriff's office said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Amateur-built airplane began to break before fatal crash near Kingman