Crews removing the wreckage from the crash site. (Source: Anonymous)
Crews removing the wreckage from the crash site. (Source: Anonymous)
Crews removing the wreckage from the crash site. (Source: Anonymous)
SABLE spotted the plane's wreckage around 10:30 p.m., about a mile from the Topsail Air Park. (Source: WITN)
NTSB, FAA, and State Highway Patrol officials are continuing their investigation. (Source: WITN)
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board say a private plane that crashed in Pender County had been inspected a week before its final flight.
State Highway Patrol officials say Dillard Powell, 89 of North Topsail Beach, died in the crash Sunday near Highway 17.
During a news conference at the Surf City Fire Department Tuesday, officials announced the NTSB is reporting no sign of in-flight structural failure and no in-flight fire or explosion.
According to State Highway Patrol, officials were notified around 11:15 p.m. Sunday about a possible plane crash. Preliminary information revealed a plane took off from the Topsail Air Park around 3:30 p.m. Sunday en route to Albert J. Ellis Airport near Jacksonville.
Around 6:30 p.m., the pilot was reported missing after the flight was considered overdue.
Authorities with Pender and Onslow counties initiated a search for the missing aircraft. SABLE spotted the plane's wreckage around 10:30 p.m., about a mile from the Topsail Air Park.
FAA officials say the plane, a Czech Sport Aircraft AS Piper Sport, was registered out of North Topsail Beach in Onslow County.
Donna Crowler, a family friend of Powell's, told WITN that Powell was a World War II pilot and that his plane was recently serviced.
Crowler also says Powell's wife planned to meet him at Albert J. Ellis Airport. Powell's wife waited overnight for him to arrive.
The FAA says the flight did not receive air traffic control services, since none were required for the flight. NTSB, FAA, and State Highway Patrol officials are continuing their investigation.
Local pilots are keeping a close eye on what investigators determine to be the cause of the crash, wanting to learn from what mistakes may have been made in the air.
"It is very concerning and every pilot here is very concerned because you want to know what caused the accident and what could I do better and the majority of it is pilot error," said Lin Brown. "It could be weather, but it is still a judgment area and probably you shouldn't have gone when you did, that kind of thing but back on safety I hate to use the word anal but that's what it's all about, the safety."
As the investigation continues, the NTSB will be looking at weather conditions, the physiology of the pilot, function of the aircraft and the flight control systems.
Crews removed the wreckage from the crash site Tuesday evening. The NTSB said it will take them nine months to a year to have a full report.