OXFORD — On Monday, the yellow tape that cordoned off the accident scene could be seen in the distance from the balcony of the Ole Miss Golf Course as the principal investigator provided an update on the plane crash that took the life of a Starkville teen pilot.
At approximately 3:15 p.m. Saturday, the single-engine Cessna piloted by Lake Little, 18, crashed near the 16th hole green and 17th hole tee box. Little died later that evening.
During a Monday news conference Ed Malinowski, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, outlined the investigation and provided information on the factors considered in aircraft crash investigations.
“The three main things we look at are the pilot, the aircraft and the weather,” Malinowski said.
Malinowski said he expects to finish the investigation at the scene by the end of today. He said he would likely post a preliminary report on the accident on the NTSB website “in about a week.”
“The final report can take anywhere from six months to a year,” he said.
Little was a cadet in the Mississippi wing of the Civil Air Patrol. The plane she was flying was property of the CAP.
“We are going to ask the Civil Air Patrol for the pilot’s flight history and flight training,” Malinowski said. “We will ask for the maintenance history on the aircraft. The weather that was occurring at the time, we can get from the local airport over here. It’s recorded.”
Malinowski is joined in his work by investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration, the aircraft manufacturer and engine manufacturer. In addition to evidence collected at the scene, investigators will rely on information from witness accounts and the CAP in their efforts to discover the cause of the crash.
The group will investigate the aircraft and engine manufacturer in addition to evidence discovered at the scene, witness accounts and other sources.
“I’ve not have a chance to review the witness statements yet,” Malinowski said. “I can do that at any time. Right now, we are focusing on capturing perishable evidence at the scene.
“From the initial statements, we were told that the aircraft was climbing, made a turn, was slow and descended and impacted terrain,” he added. “That’s what was verbally told to me at the scene.”
Malinowski said he will be asking for any radar that shows the plane’s flight.
“We will request radar and hopefully the radar track of the flight will give us some indication of what the aircraft was doing during its flight,” he said. “What we can confirm was that the flight was from Golden Triangle airport to Oxford for a touch-and-go landing then back to Golden Triangle airport.”
The accident occurred approximately a half-mile north of the Oxford airport.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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