NTSB investigates county deadly crash | Local News | Our Gazette

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NTSB investigates county deadly crash

Published Sunday, February 08, 2009 11:24 AM

By Jim Tatum
The Gazette

Jim Tatum/Gazette

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are currently working to find out why this plane crashed last week at Berkeley County Airport, killing the pilot.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are trying to determine what caused a plane to crash last week at Berkeley County Airport.

The single-engine plane crash occurred Thursday. The only person aboard the craft, a pilot from North Carolina, was killed.

An NTSB investigative team was at the scene of the crash Friday probing the wreckage for possible clues, as well as interviewing witnesses and looking into other factors, NTSB Air Safety Investigator Dennis Diaz said Friday.

Once the on-site investigation is completed, the team will analyze the data and hopefully be able to determine what happened, Diaz said.

While small general aviation aircraft are not usually equipped with flight data recorders, known as “black boxes” this particular aircraft was equipped with fairly sophisticated avionics equipment which might provide valuable information to the investigation, Diaz said.

The NTSB should release a report in about 10 days, Diaz said.

The plane, a single-engine, fixed-wing Cirrus SR-22, crashed Thursday afternoon at Berkeley Count Airport. The pilot, Manfred Stolle, 48, of Cornelius, N.C., was transported to Moncks Corner Medical Center where he was pronounced dead on arrival due to major head trauma, according to Berkeley County Deputy Coroner Bill Salisbury.

“Berkeley County rescue along with Berkeley County sheriffs office and Whitesville Rural Fire Department arrived immediately on the scene to investigate the crash,” Salisbury said. “The single engine plane crashed on approach approximately 300 yards from the runway.”

According to witnesses on the scene, the plane approached from the east, clearing the line of trees and had lost power.

“It cleared the fence here and then fell straight down,” Salisbury said.

Diaz said the plane was returning to Charlotte, N.C. from Charleston when the pilot asked to divert to Berkeley County Airport because of smoke or fumes in the cockpit.

The crash is the first fatal crash at Berkeley County Airport in at least 10 years, according to officials at the scene.

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