Report: Pilot reported engine failure before fatal crash in Eastern Kentucky
The pilot of a small airplane that crashed in Eastern Kentucky on May 24 reported engine trouble just before going down, according to a preliminary report on the accident.
The pilot, Timothy Michael Pankiewicz, 62, had flown out of Green Cove Springs, Fla., where he lived, then stopped for fuel in South Carolina, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its report.
Pankiewicz had climbed to an altitude of about 9,000 feet above sea level and was over Breathitt County when he declared an emergency at 1:30 p.m., telling an air traffic controller the engine had lost oil pressure and failed.
The controller told Pankiewicz about an airport three miles away, but Pankiewicz said he couldn’t see it and decided to try to make a forced landing in a field, according to the NTSB report.
A witness said the plane flew over the top of a mountain and was smoking. The plane was banking left and the nose hit the ground with the engine area on fire, the report said.
The witness started to walk toward the plane but heard an explosion.
The federal report said the airplane was an experimental, amateur-built Rans RV-8. The craft was engulfed in flames when Kentucky State Police officers and firefighters arrived, according to a news release.
It could be months before the NTSB issues a finding on the probable cause of the crash.
