Pilot killed in small plane crash

Set Text Size SmallSet Text Size MediumSet Text Size LargeSet Text Size X-Large
Share
Updated: 2/13 5:49 pm
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- One person is dead following the crash of a twin-engine airplane in New Smyrna Beach Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, the Cessna 337 crashed just after takeoff from the New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport.

"It clipped the top of this tree and clipped the power line there and hit that rotten big tall pine tree over there and just disintegrated like it was made out of balsa wood when it hit the ground," said Pat Chapman, who witnessed the crash.

The plane broke apart on impact, killing the pilot, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Deputies identified the pilot as Paul Rooy, age 56, of Daytona Beach.
The crash happened in an empty field near a New Smyrna city sports complex.

According to officials, they believe Rooy radioed that he had an emergency.

Eyewitnesses said they could tell from the ground that something was wrong, and it appeared to them that the plane was trying to return to the airport.

"It was like he took off and must have gotten into some kind of trouble and tried to make a circle maybe going back to the airport and didn't make it," said Chapman.

No one else was aboard the plane and no injuries were reported on the ground, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be involved in investigations surrounding the crash.
Share
1 Comment(s)
Comments: Show | Hide

Here are the most recent story comments.View All

The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Action News Jacksonville

sumpthiscom - 2/13/2013 10:51 PM
0 Votes
"The plane went down shortly after taking off and an investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board is at the scene of a fatal plane crash." What is it with aircraft engines that seem to fail after takeoff and what has the NTSB ever correlated about this anomaly? Why did the NTSB ignore my Petition about this anomaly? http://www.sumpthis.com/ntsbpetition/ntsbpetitioncontents.htm Could the sump drains that check for water in the fuel tanks not work as certified? Is the preflight procedure checking for water in the fuel flawed? Pending the discovery of a catastrophic engine failure was it undetectable water in the fuel tanks the pilot could not positively detect during the preflight? When was the first or last time the FAA or NTSB did a real world test of the sump drains and preflight procedure? Aircraft takes off and changes it attitude. When it takes off and changes its attitude could water hiding in the fuel tank then change its attitude? Could this water in the fuel tank leave its hiding place, after takeoff, and make its way to the engine fuel pick-up? The NTSB has written off engine failures in General Aviation Aircraft well over six thousand four hundred eighteen times with the probable cause of UNDETERMINED. If the NTSB cannot get a handle on the complexities of air, spark, compression and UNCONTAMINATED FUEL, maybe the NTSB should ask a good old country boy mechanic. Do not believe blindly in the FAA certification where the pre-flight procedure and checking the sump for water in the fuel tanks is concerned. Do your own red dyed water in the fuel tank test as the aircraft sits in its normal ground attitude. Pour in 16 ounces of red dyed water just as the NTSB did over two decades ago, see NTSB Safety Recommendation A-83-6, then go to the sump drains and see if you can positively detect and then eliminate the entire 16 ounces of red dyed water you just poured into the fuel tank.
Inergize Digital This site is hosted and managed by Inergize Digital.
Mobile advertising for this site is available on Local Ad Buy.