An accident involving a plane that fell out of the sky and crashed onto a woman’s car in Roy earlier this month was likely caused by a partial loss of engine power shortly after takeoff, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The crash happened about 1 p.m. Sept. 12 after the plane departed from the Ogden-Hinckley Airport.
After a few engine runs on the ground, the pilot, a 63-year-old man, took off in his recently purchased aircraft to practice touch-and-go landings. As he climbed to about 200 feet, he noticed the engine wasn’t producing power.
“The pilot turned on the fuel boost pump, checked the magnetos, changed fuel tanks, and enriched the mixture, but the airplane still would not climb,” the report noted, and the airplane made impact with a car and the ground before sliding to a stop about a mile southwest of the airport at 1900 West and 4500 South.
Ogden-Hinkley manager Jon Greiner told The Salt Lake Tribune at the time of the accident that the plane had sat on the tarmac at the airport “for years.” The pilot reported the airplane had recently come out of inspection, according to the report.
Samantha Sandoval, the 42-year-old driver of the car, and the pilot suffered minor injuries but were evacuated before fired consumed the single-engine airplane and the rear half of Sandoval’s black sedan.
Sandoval’s family told The Associated Press it was a miracle she walked away from the crash with only scrapes and a broken pinkie.
The report noted that weather conditions were clear at the time of the accident and that the pilot had not filed a flight plan. A spokesman from the tower at the airport told The Tribune at the time that the pilot had not issued any type of distress call before the crash.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration also are scrutinizing the crash. NTSB has recovered the aircraft for further examination.