The small plane that crashed at Salem Municipal Airport on Jan. 29 veered sharply and climbed suddenly before diving to the ground as the pilot was attempting to land, according to a preliminary accident report.
The report from the National Transportation Safety Board doesn’t have any conclusions about the likely cause of the crash, but offers more detail on the final seconds before the single-engine Beechcraft K35 Bonanza hit the ground around 3 p.m.
DOCUMENT: Preliminary NTSB report
Pilot Daniel McKenna, 66, and passenger Cynthia McKenna, 61, of Boring, Oregon, died in the crash.
Federal Aviation Administration records said the McKennas owned the plane, and said Daniel McKenna earned his private pilot license in 2010.
The accident report said the pilot took off and remained in the airport’s traffic pattern, something typical when practicing takeoffs and landings. He was cleared to land on runway 34, one of the airport’s two main runways.
“Witnesses stated that during the approach to land, the airplane crossed the runway threshold and continued to descend,” the report said. “Before touching down on the runway, the airplane suddenly veered to the left and simultaneously entered a near vertical climb. The airplane rolled to the left, and subsequently entered a near vertical descent.”
The plane nosedived to the ground.
Evidence at the scene of the crash showed the airplane’s left wing hit the ground about 17 feet west of the asphalt runway.
“Shards of the airplane’s red position light lens cap were found in the grass and marked the initial point of impact. The main wreckage came to rest about 32 ft west of the runway,” the report said.
Both wings sustained substantial damage.
Michael Hicks, the NTSB investigator on the crash, said Jan. 30 the pilot had been practicing takeoffs and landings at the airport, something student pilots routinely practice without issue.
He said there was no obvious cause of the crash, and weather wasn’t a factor.
The day was clear, with 10 miles of visibility and winds at 3 knots – a speed just shy of a “light breeze,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A full federal investigation into a plane crash typically takes 12 to 24 months, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said, so a full accounting of what led to the crash likely won’t be available for some time.
The last fatal crash at the airport occurred on July 4, 2015, when a pilot crashed while attempting to land, according to NTSB records.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
