Airplane ‘sounded much lower than it should have been.’ NTSB releases preliminary report on fatal Afton crash.

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
·3 min read

Federal officials have released a preliminary report regarding the fatal crash of a World War II-era airplane that occurred earlier this month in Afton.

Killed were William “Pat” Moore, 85, of White Bear Lake, the pilot of the Globe GC-1B Swift, and his passenger, Mitchell J. Zahler, 68, of Baytown Township.

The men, who flew out of Lake Elmo Airport in Baytown Township, were en route to the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum, an aviation museum, in Granite Falls, Minn. The airplane crashed around 9:40 a.m. March 2 in a residential area about six nautical miles south-southeast of the airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

A witness who was outside of his house about 600 feet north of the accident site reported seeing the plane in a “quick nosedive” and disappearing. “He heard the crash and ran to the scene to try and provide aid,” the report states.

The owner of the property where the airplane crashed said he heard from inside his house “an exceptionally loud plane” that had a “steady and loud” engine. The plane suddenly went quiet for “one to two seconds,” the report states. “That was followed by one to two seconds of engine noise, (and) then it went quiet again. He then heard snapping and cracking followed by an explosion.”

Another witness told authorities that he heard “a loud airplane that sounded much lower than it should have been, and that the engine sounded like it was going back and forth from high (revolutions per minute) to low (revolutions per minute) multiple times before he heard the thud of the crash,” according to the NTSB.

When emergency crews arrived, they found a fully engulfed plane “impacted in a nose-down attitude” that had crashed near a home’s attached garage, according to the NTSB. “Fuel staining” was observed on the paved driveway ahead of the wreckage, officials said.

The airplane’s cockpit was nearly consumed by fire, and its fuselage “exhibited significant thermal damage” and was mostly consumed by fire, the report states. The airplane’s left control stick was installed and intact; its right control stick and attachment hardware was not located at the accident scene, officials said.

The instrument panel, instruments and engine controls were burned and broken, and all fuel tanks ruptured, according to the report. In addition, investigators reported heavy damage to the wings and blades and said two of the airplane’s spark plugs were “carbon fouled.”

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Moore bought 9.1 gallons of fuel at 9:18 a.m., and he was off the ground at 9:36 a.m., officials said. The temperature was 44 degrees.

The NTSB has retained the wreckage for further investigation, and a final report will be released later.

Moore had owned the plane since 1961, according to his obituary.

A celebration of Zahler’s life will be held at 11 a.m. April 5 at Rockpoint Church in Lake Elmo, with visitation two hours prior.

Services for Moore have been held.