The pilot of a small plane that crashed near a North Carolina airport earlier this month had lifted one wheel after landing to avoid hitting a turtle on the runway, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The pilot of the Universal Stinson 108 and a passenger were killed in the June 3 crash near Sugar Valley Airport in Mocksville, while a second passenger was seriously injured, the report released this week said.
A communications operator at the airport told investigators that the pilot had been alerted to the turtle on the runway just before landing. According to the report, the pilot touched down about 1,400 feet into the 2,424-foot runway before lifting the right main wheel to avoid the reptile. The operator then heard the plane’s throttle advance as the aircraft left her line of sight.
A witness mowing grass at the end of the runway reported seeing the pilot raise the right wheel to avoid the turtle before the plane’s wings rocked back and forth and it took off again, according to the report. Moments later, the witness lost sight of the plane, then heard a crash and saw smoke.
The aircraft went down in a wooded area about 255 feet from the runway and caught fire. The wreckage was wedged between trees, with its left wing folded under the fuselage and its right wing bent toward the tail. Except for a few pieces of fabric recovered from a nearby stream, the plane remained mostly intact.
Preliminary reports list facts gathered at the scene but do not draw conclusions about the crash. Final NTSB findings can take one to two years to complete.