NTSB Releases Preliminary Report On Collinsville Plane Crash That Killed Two

NewsOn6.com

COLLINSVILLE, OK -- The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report on a plane crash that killed a Broken Arrow man and his mother.

Kevin Covell, 44, and his mother, 84-year-old Charlotte Covell, died on May 29th when their small, experimental aircraft went down in a field near the Airman Acres airstrip.

5/31/2010 Related story:  Obituaries Provide New Details Into IDs Of Collinsville Plane Crash Victims

According to the report, a witness at the airfield told investigators he saw the airplane taxi to the end of the runway where the pilot did a run-up, which means he revved the engine while holding the plane stationary to make sure the engine was operating normally.

The witness saw the plane taxi to the centerline of the runway and take off.  The witness said everything appeared to be normal until the aircraft  reached an altitude of about 150 feet, then the engine quit. 

According to the report, the witness saw the plane make a sharp turn back to the airstrip, but the left wing dipped and the nose pointed toward the ground.  The witness lost sight of the aircraft behind trees but then heard the crash and saw smoke rising from the impact.

Read the NTSB's Preliminary report.

The next report from the NTSB concerning the crash will be the Factual Report, which will include details on everything from the toxicology report on the pilot to the mechanical condition of the plane's engine. 

It will likely take many months for that report to be completed, but it will not include any conclusions about what caused the crash. 

Any conclusions the NTSB reaches about the cause will be part of the Probable Cause Report which could take more than a year to complete.