UPDATE:
The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report of June's fatal plane crash in Monongalia County.
The report included a few new details.
The NTSB said the pilot, who has been identified as Richard Lee Lambert, had more than 22,000 hours of flight experience.
The plane was owned by Oz Gas Company.
After leaving Tidioute Pennsylvania the plane stopped in Farmington, Pa., unloading its three passengers. The plane then departed for Morgantown Municipal Airport.
After communicating with air traffic control in Morgantown the plane descending to roughly 3,000 feet before hitting the antenna of a communications tower.
The NTSB said there is no evidence of any malfunctions with the flight controls.
You can read the full report here.
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UPDATE:
The Federal Aviation Administration held a press conference Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Sand Spring Campground in Monongalia County, near the site of a fatal plane crash Friday.
The Morgantown Municipal Airport picked up a signal from the plane shortly before the accident occurred, officials said. The airport lost contact with the plane when it was flying at a believed altitude of 3,300 feet. Officials said it hit a radio tower at an elevation of 3,100 feet.
Officials would not comment on whether 3,300 is a normal flying height.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are reviewing the plane's audio equipment, and said it could take a year to conclude the cause of the crash.
The plane had just dropped three passengers at Nemacolin, officials said. The pilot was the only person in the plane at the time of the crash.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
The Monongalia County Sheriff's Department responded to a report of a fatal plane crash on Sand Springs Road Friday morning.
Authorities were alerted around 10 a.m. and emergency reports indicate that one man is dead and the twin-engine plane struck a radio tower. The person's identity is currently unknown. Monongalia County Sheriff Al Kisner confirmed that no one else was on the plane at the time of the crash and said that it isn't currently known if a distress signal was sent out before the plane went down.
It's not known what the cause of the crash is at this point, said Sheriff Kisner.
After Friday, the sheriff's department will hand over all of its findings and evidence to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Officials said the Hawker Beechcraft Plane crashed into the tower in Monongalia County. FAA Registry records indicate the plane is registered to O.Z. Gas Aviation based out of Lewistown, Montana. The plane departed from an airport in Tidioute, Pa. at 9 a.m. and was scheduled to land in Nemacolin, Pa.
The tower belongs to West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
The FAA, medical examiner and state police responded to the scene.
Preston County officials also responded to the scene because some of the plane parts landed in Preston County.
Courtesy: WPXI
W.Va. Public Broadcasting tower-2008
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