Photo from NTSB Report
by Sarah DeMaranville
Geneseo Current
The National Transportation Safety Board has published its preliminary report on the Oct. 21 plane crash east of Geneseo, and the report gives the first official account of the plane's final minutes: two low passes over the runway at Gen-Air Park, an engine that "coughed" after the second pass, and a fuel-tank switch that did not bring the engine back.
The single-engine Van's RV-8, registration N818TC, left Davenport Municipal Airport about 2:41 p.m. on Oct. 21, according to ADS-B data cited in the report, and flew to Geneseo. It made two low passes over the runway at Gen-Air Park (3G8) and then headed east.
A friend of the pilot, who was taxiing his own airplane at the airport, watched the two low passes and saw the plane depart to the east. Shortly after, he saw a fireball and a plume of smoke east of the airport. He did not see the crash itself.
He took off, located the wreckage engulfed in flames in a field, landed back at Gen-Air Park, and drove to the site with another person. They found the pilot about 30 feet from the wreckage. The pilot told the witness that after the second low pass, the engine "coughed," so he switched fuel tanks — but the engine would not restart.
The plane came down about 0.3 nautical miles east of the runway and was destroyed by a post-crash fire, the report says. The pilot, who was seriously injured, got out of the plane and was helped by first responders. He was the only person aboard.
The weather at the time was clear, with 10 miles of visibility and a light wind, according to an observation from the Quad Cities airport about 19 nautical miles away. No flight plan had been filed. The NTSB did not travel to the scene; the wreckage has been retained for further examination.
The investigative docket has not yet been released. A final NTSB report is typically 12 to 24 months away.