CLEVELAND — The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released its preliminary findings of its investigation into the plane crash that killed a 75-year-old Geneva man last week.
John Williams was killed after the "experimental, amateur-built" Titan T-51 Mustang model aircraft he was piloting crashed near the Germack Airport in Geneva minutes before 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 21.
The NTSB spoke with witnesses on the ground as well as a private pilot who said he had planned to complete a demonstration flight with Williams. The private pilot said Williams had performed maintenance on the plane before the flight and had completed "a few run-ups, and ground taxi runs, which appeared normal."
The private pilot told investigators Williams added oil to the plane after those run-ups and departed for a brief flight to check that the plane was functioning properly. Williams performed "several maneuvers" over the airport, the report states.
Williams went on the fly over a runway and attempted a pull up maneuver. When the plane's nose ascended, the private pilot told investigators he heard the engine go to a "super high RPM" before the propellor hub shattered and parts of the airplane exploded from the nose of the airplane.
The private pilot said he saw Williams attempt an emergency landing. A witness who was driving on a road about a quarter mile west of the airport runway told investigators he saw the plane's left wing clip a tree branch near the road before rolling over.
"The witness observed that the airplane’s right landing gear was down, the left landing gear appeared to be in transit and coming down, and airplane’s wings were wobbling up and down," the report reads.
The NTSB said the main wreckage landed in a wooded area near a county road, about 250 feet away from where the plane initially clipped the tree. There was no evidence of a fire.
