Federal safety investigators launch investigation after aircraft accident in Centre County
Federal safety investigators said in a notification published Wednesday they are probing the cause of a powered parachute crash in Centre County that seriously injured one person on the ground.
An unmanned paramotor operated by Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory was involved in an accident about 8:30 a.m. April 16 at the Mid-State Regional Airport in Rush Township, the National Transportation Safety Board wrote in the notification.
A Penn State spokesperson said Thursday the university was unable to immediately comment. The current status of the injured person was also not immediately known.
The person who was injured was on the ground and the aircraft had minor damage, the NTSB wrote. Meteorological information — including the conditions, temperature, wind gusts and visibility — was not included.
The investigation is narrow in scope, seeking only to identify the cause of the accident. The type of investigation being carried out is typically the shortest in duration.
A final report that identifies the probable cause of the accident is generally expected to be made publicly available within six months. The report, according to the NTSB, only examines the “actions and conditions directly relating to the accident.”
