DAYTON — A National Transportation Safety Board spokesman told News Center 7 Monday it could take as long two years before the agency completes a final crash report and determines a cause for the deadly plane crash at the Richmond Municipal Airport Sunday morning.
Indiana State Police identified 78-year-old Judson Costlow, of Richmond, Ind., as the pilot killed in the fiery wreck.
The NTSB said he was the only person on board his “Aeropro CZ A240” when he crashed into a field a half-mile from the airport after departure.
The Federal Aviation Administration is assisting with the investigation in Richmond and classifies that make and model as a “light-sport aircraft.”
>>>78-year-old killed in small aircraft crash near Richmond Municipal Airport
The NTSB said it will release a preliminary report on the crash in Wayne County in two weeks, but added that report will not include what caused the crash.
Instead, an agency spokesman said, that document will be, “a status report of all the confirmed, verified, factual information discovered in the first two weeks (of the investigation).”
Things like the exact time of the crash, any witness reports, the aircraft’s tail number, weather conditions at the time of the wreck and “any factual evidence recovered in the first two weeks,” of the investigation are all elements the spokesman said will be included in the preliminary crash report.
The NTSB also said the preliminary report will include the airport that was supposed to have been Costlow’s next stop after departing from Richmond Municipal. Federal investigators say they don’t know exactly where he was going yet.
Although, Indiana State Police said in a press release Sunday that, “early investigation revealed Costlow was flying to Arizona to visit family.”
That same NTSB spokesman also said the federal agency will not release a cause of Sunday’s mishap in Richmond until the final crash report is released and posted publicly on the agency’s web site. The NTSB spokesman said that’s a process that could take anywhere from “one to two years,” to complete.
Publicly-available FAA registry records list Costlow as the registered owner of the aircraft he was piloting when he crashed Sunday.
Certificates on file with the FAA show Costlow was issued a student pilot certificate in October 2016. Under a heading titled, “limits:” the certificate states, “carrying passengers is prohibited.” Costlow was flying alone when he crashed Sunday.
Mike Grace is a retired airlines pilot with decades of flight experience. He still pilots aircraft today and told News Center 7 that a student pilot certificate, “means basically that you’ve soloed an aircraft through an instructor, and they have found you competent and qualified to fly an aircraft by yourself.”
“That’s why they can’t have passengers on board,” Grace said. “You have set limitations as far as aeronautical miles that you can travel. There’s just an abundance of different things that limits you – the ability you have – at that particular time.”
News Center 7 will continue following this story and bring you any new details we learn from the preliminary and final crash reports in this investigation.
Cox Media Group
