The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

July 2, 2009

Fatal plane crash report doesn’t identify cause

By Monica Pryts

GREENE TOWNSHIP — Federal aviation officials have released a detailed report on the Nov. 2, 2007, Greene Township plane crash that killed Hermitage pilot Daniel R. Lloyd II, but have yet to rule on the cause of the accident.

Known as a factual report, it was filed June 23 by the National Transportation Safety Board and reviews the documented circumstances surrounding the crash that officials were able to verify, Peter Knudson, NTSB spokesman, said Thursday.

It does not analyze or cite the significance of factors that could have contributed to the crash, but identifies various problems officials discovered. The final report of probable cause is expected to be released Aug. 13, he said.

Lloyd, 37, of 3249 Timber Lane, was flying an experimental Vans RV-10 plane he spent several years building. He was alone when he flew out of Greenville Municipal Airport that morning and did not file a flight plan, which NTSB officials have said is common.

One of Lloyd’s relatives told officials Lloyd wanted to make sure the plane was functioning properly because he planned to fly his wife and two young children to Boston that afternoon, according to the factual report.

Witnesses said the plane seemed to be flying low and the engine didn’t sound right before it crashed on state Route 58, about a mile from the airport, and caught fire, parts of it scattering across the road and a cornfield.

The latest report also says Lloyd’s friends said he was impatient with the time it took to assemble the plane because he wanted to take it to a convention in Wisconsin.

An examination of the wreckage showed no evidence of engine failure, but the propeller blades weren’t rotating when the plane crashed.

The propeller controls were made by a different company than the one that manufactured the propellers, making it incapable of monitoring the number of rotations and maintaining the propeller at a constant speed.

Part of the plane’s rudder was secured with duct tape and some lock nuts on the pitch control system weren’t tight enough. Multiple wires and a cable in the plane’s electrical system appeared to have not been connected properly before the crash.

One of Lloyd’s friends later realized Lloyd “never really read” through any operation manuals for the plane’s electronics system before the crash.

Lloyd had complained that a parts dealer didn’t explain how to connect certain electrical components, but the installation instructions were listed in the manuals, the friend said. He urged Lloyd to take his time and do things the right way.

Lloyd also told the friend in October 2007 he wanted to “get his hands around flying the airplane” before reading all the manuals and he was feeling like he was “way out of my comfort zone and clawing my way back in.”

The part of the plane’s instrument panel that displays fuel information wasn’t set up correctly, which would have resulted in erroneous readings for the number of rotations, fuel flow and quantity and nuisance alarms, the report said.

Lloyd’s logbook showed he didn’t take the training required by the Federal Aviation Administration for operating his type of plane, but the FAA issued a certificate to fly the aircraft.

FAA records listing the plane’s weight and balance information were different than the data in Lloyd’s logbook.

The Mercer County Coroner’s office ruled Lloyd died from multiple injuries suffered in the crash and toxicology tests conducted by FAA officials showed ibuprofen, an over-the-counter painkiller, was in his system.

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