FALMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary findings on a deadly plane crash in Falmouth that killed a pilot and left another person with serious injuries.
The safety board said it was around 3 p.m. on Dec. 2, when a single-engine, Mooney M20J model plane was involved in an accident at Falmouth Airpark, crashing in a grassy area near a runway. Authorities at the time said a couple had been returning from Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield, Mass., after flying there for a day trip when it happened.
The plane’s private pilot, an 83-year-old Falmouth man, was sent to Falmouth Hospital after the crash where he was pronounced dead. He had been accompanied in the plane by a commercial pilot, a 70-year-old woman, who was seriously injured. She was sent to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
In the NTSB report, a friend of the private pilot said he and several other aircraft flew to Westfield for lunch that day before flying back to Falmouth. He said as they were returning, he heard what was likely the commercial pilot making radio calls as the M20J came near the runway. The witness then continued his own approach when he saw the crashed airplane at the airpark.
Officials learned from the surviving commercial pilot that sunlight likely played a role in the crash. She told NTSB investigators that she remembered flying to Barnes Regional Airport and that the flight was uneventful. She also said that as the plane was approaching Falmouth and she double-checked everything during the flight, she asked “if the sun was in the flying pilot’s eyes,” according to the report, to which he said “yes.”
After adjusting the sun visor, the commercial pilot looked down for another check before looking up and seeing that they were going to hit several trees.
“She believed the pilot couldn’t see because of the bright sunlight at the time of the approach,” the report said. “She stated that the engine was running fine, and they had no flight control anomalies at the time of the accident.”
The report went on to say all major components of the plane were found at the accident site and that the wreckage was retained for further examination.
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