Pilot reported 'engine failure' before fatal plane crash into the Pa. Turnpike near I-83
The pilot of an airplane that crashed last month into the Pennsylvania Turnpike announced the aircraft had experienced "engine failure" about five miles from Capital City Airport, according to a preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane crashed May 31 into a utility truck on the Turnpike near Interstate 83 in Fairview Township. It happened one mile from a runway at Capital City Airport, the report states.
The crash seriously injured the pilot, who has not been named. The passenger, Lawrence Sager, 74, of Harrisburg died at UPMC Harrisburg Hospital, according to a Dauphin County spokeswoman. The driver of the utility truck was not injured.
The three-page report states that the Cessna 180 was on a 3-leg, cross country flight that originated from the pilot's home airport in Fredericksburg, Pa. in Lebanon County. He was seen putting fuel in the plane before taking off for the trip.
It landed at two locations before the crash, and the owners of those properties say the plane was not serviced with fuel, the report states. One was a private grass strip in West Virginia, and it did not have fuel available.
First responders said there was no evidence of fuel or a spill at the scene of the crash, but they did smell an odor of fuel, the report states.
A pint of fuel was drained from the right fuel tank, but the left one had none in it, the report states. Both were intact.
Witnesses told investigators that the engine sounded "erractic," and was "cutting in and out" just before the accident, the report says.
The National Transportation Safety Board was not able to interview the pilot because of his injuries, the report states.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Fatal plane crash in northern York County included 'engine failure,' little fuel: NTSB
