NTSB releases preliminary crash report for Osage Beach plane crash that killed two
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (KMIZ)
The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary crash report one week after the plane crash in Osage Beach that killed two people.
The crash happened on July 13 near the Grand Glaize Airport.
Hayden Michael Ritchhart, 22, of Carrollton, and Evan R. Vandiver, 19, Richmond, died in the crash. Gary Vandiver, 54, of Richmond, suffered serious injuries and continues to be treated at University Hospital in Columbia.
The preliminary report states investigators did not find any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the plane's frame or engine that would interfere with its operations.
However, a trim tab jackscrew was found extended above the drum, with about 17 threads exposed. The report states that this corresponds with a full nose-up trim setting.
A trim tab jack screw, experts said, is essentially the equivalent of a car's cruise control. This means that the airplane would have likely tried to automatically continue to climb, which would need to be fixed with downward pressure. This can lead to the airplane losing speed or stalling.
The report states witnesses saw the tail of the plane was lower than the nose and the plane "banked" to the right and crashed in wooded area on private property.
The airplane came to a rest, nose down, near multiple large trees about more than half a mile north of the end of runway 32. The plane sustained substantial damages.
The report states the plane flew from Carrollton Memorial Airport in Carrollton, Missouri, to the Grand Glaize-Osage Beach Airport. The flight was supposed to take the two passengers on a flight around the local area to view the scenery.
Former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall said the preliminary report is the board's initial report containing information obtained at the crash site.
Hall said that the board's investigators will then return to Washington where additional work will be done.
"That will also include an analysis of the facts by the NTSB staff, and any other parties that are parties to the investigation," said Hall.
Hall said the final report could take between nine months to a year before it will be released.
"That will include an analysis of the facts. It will also include a probable cause of what the board concludes was the cause of the accident and recommendations," Hall said.
The NTSB said this in an email statement. "The information in the report issued is preliminary based on the factual information that is currently known. We are not at a point where we can go beyond what’s in the report or elaborate any further. Any additional details would be speculative and analytical and it is far too early in the investigation analysis."
Police last week stated Ritchhart was believed to be flying. FAA online records show a commercial pilot license was issued to a Hayden Michael Ritchhart on March 15. The address for that license was listed as Daytona Beach, Florida.
The aircraft is registered to Jeffrey Adams, of Carrollton, Missouri. The Piper PA-28-Cherokee is a single-engine plane built in 1969, according to FAA records.
