Pilot error, lack of flight time official causes of fatal 2016 crash near Sky King airport

April 18--Pilot error is the official finding in an August 2016 small-airplane crash that claimed the life of one physician/pilot who practiced in Terre Haute and badly injured another.

The National Transportation Safety Board released the report this morning, saying:

"The pilot's failure to maintain a normal approach path to the runway, which resulted in the airplane colliding with a tree and a house during final approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of recent flight experience."

The plane's owner, Dr. William Patrick O'Neill, a pathologist at Terre Haute Regional Hospital, survived the crash.

Dr. John Trump of Lexington, Kentucky, died of injuries suffered in the crash. He was an anesthesiologist at Regional and was thinking of buying the plane.

The plane, a single-engine 1980 Cessna 172N, clipped a tree and then crashed into the roof of a home in the 3100 block of East Rosehill Avenue near Sky King Airport in North Terre Haute about 7:05 p.m. Aug. 25, 2016.

The final report includes the following summary:

"The private pilot, who was interested in purchasing the airplane, was conducting a local flight in the airport traffic pattern to evaluate the airplane. The pilot was seated in the left front seat, and a private-pilot-rated passenger, the airplane's owner, was seated in the right front seat. When the airplane turned onto final approach, it was below a normal approach path to the runway and at a slower-than-normal airspeed. The pilot performed a go-around and remained in the traffic pattern for another approach. During the second final approach, the airplane was again flying at a lower-than-normal altitude and a slow groundspeed when it collided with a 50-ft-tall tree about 1,355 ft short of the runway threshold. The airplane subsequently traveled about 190 ft before impacting a house. No witnesses reported hearing any engine anomalies during the accident flight. Additionally, the post-accident wreckage examination did not reveal any evidence of anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. It is likely that the pilot allowed the airplane to descend below a normal approach path to the runway, which resulted in the collision with the tree and the house. The pilot had not flown during the 11 months before the accident, and his most recent flight in the airplane make and model was completed more than 2.5 years before the accident. Additionally, the pilot had not completed a flight review during the 4 years since he received his pilot certificate, and, consequently, he did not demonstrate having an adequate level of flight proficiency on a recurring basis. The pilot's lack of recent flight experience likely contributed to his failure to maintain a normal approach path and the collision with the tree."

A few weeks ago, the NTSB filed an Aviation Accident Factual Report, a preview to the final finding in the investigation. Although that report contained more detail than previously publicly available, it did not determine cause of the crash.

The NTSB's reports say Trump was considering buying the plane from O'Neill, and the two were flying that evening so Trump could check out the aircraft.

With O'Neill piloting, they flew to the Edgar County (Illinois) Airport and back to North Terre Haute without incident.

Trump then asked if he could fly the airplane. O'Neill agreed and the men switched seats, with Trump flying from the left pilot seat.

The crash appears to have taken place on a landing attempt after a short flight.

The NTSB said when "the airplane turned onto the final approach, it was below a normal approach path to the runway and at a slower-than-normal airspeed. The owner's last memory of the flight was losing sight of the runway and telling the potential buyer to 'add power and lower the nose for airspeed.'"

The report says O'Neill -- likely due to his injuries -- didn't recall Trump making a go-around and re-entering the traffic pattern for another landing attempt.

However, other witnesses, including two flight instructors, did say the plane made at least one go-around for a second attempt.

The plane never made it to the runway.

It does not appear anyone saw the plane actually hit the house, but the report does say one "witness, who was in her backyard at the time of the accident, observed the airplane flying at a lower-than-normal altitude toward the airport.

"She stated that the airplane briefly climbed before colliding with a tree. She did not see the airplane's final descent into the house."

The NTSB says the plane first hit the 50-foot-tall oak tree, which was about 200 feet east of the house. The airplane's final resting position inside the house was consistent with a near vertical descent, the report noted.

No one inside the house was injured.

This report, like the preliminary crash report filed in September 2016, says the weather was good and there was nothing to indicate the aircraft was less than sound.

The report notes Trump, 60, had a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land airplane rating that was issued in March 2012. His most recent medical certificate was issued in May 2016.

FAA records showed no previous accidents. He had 121.4 hours total flight time. The NTSB said it appears Trump's last previous flight, which was 0.7 hours, occurred on September 22, 2015.

The report also notes there was no record he had ever completed a flight review, as required, after being issued his private pilot certificate in 2012.

Trump died nine days after the accident, and an autopsy was performed in Frankfort, Kentucky. Cause of death was attributed to "brain injury due to multiple blunt-force injuries."

The report says no toxicological testing was performed "due to the lack of available specimens taken on, or near, the date of the accident."

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