It may take months to learn what caused accident, officials say
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Federal investigators spent part of Monday looking through the wreckage of a fiery plane crash that killed two Taylorsville men over the weekend, but it could be months before the investigation is complete, authorities said.
Leon Marion Fagan Jr., 44, and Billy Kermit Little, 53, both of Taylorsville, died Sunday afternoon when the homemade plane they were flying crashed and burst into flames near N.C. 16 just outside the Taylorsville town limits in Alexander County.
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board arrived early Monday at the scene, said Chief Deputy Chris Bowman of the Alexander County Sheriff's Office.
A recovery team from the NTSB's Atlanta field office took the remains of the aircraft to continue their investigation, Bowman said.
The RANS S-6S fixed-wing, single-engine plane had taken off about 3:20 p.m. Sunday from Taylorsville Airport, a small airstrip privately owned by the Taylorsville Flying Club.
The flight was supposed to start and end at that airport, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. But moments after takeoff, the plane crashed behind a service station close to the highway. Flames had engulfed the wreckage when emergency crews arrived.
The plane was an experimental aircraft that was built from a kit in 2005, FAA records show. It was registered to Fagan, who had been certified to fly single-engine planes since 2001.
Bowman said authorities were not certain who was flying the plane at the time of the crash.
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