NTSB investigators say parking brake was on when plane crashed in Farmington
By KAITLYN NAPLES, ERIN EDWARDS, ROGER SUSANIN
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FARMINGTON, CT (WFSB) — An investigation into a deadly plane crash in Farmington indicated that the plane’s parking had not been released.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report into the crash on Tuesday.
According to the report, investigators found nothing wrong with navigational parts of the plane, but discovered that the “parking brake handle in the cockpit, and the respective valve that it controlled, were both found in the brake set position.”
“Now that’s an error, but we’re not exactly sure when the parking brake was put on,” aviation expert Dr. Michael Teiger explained.
The crash killed all four people on board, including two pilots, William O’Leary from Bristol, and Mark Morrow from Danbury, and a married couple from Boston, identified as Courtney Haviland and her husband William Shrauner. The two were expecting their second child.
The report also outlined what witnesses saw when the plane took off from Robertson Airport in Plainville.
Two witnesses said the plane was going slower than they had seen during previous takeoffs.
Then, the plane was about two-thirds down the runway when one witness saw a puff of “blue colored smoke from the backside of the airplane.”
Channel 3 asked Teiger if that could be from the pilot using the emergency brake.
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