Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board have taken over the investigation into what caused a plane to crash as it approached Oxford Airport Wednesday.
Agents from the Federal Aviation Administration collected preliminary data at the scene Wednesday and gave it to the NTSB, Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the FAA said.
The NTSB should have a preliminary report within two weeks. A final report should be done within the next few months, Salac said.
The plane apparently clipped a high-tension tower and broke apart, with pieces and parts landing in a CL&P electrical substation. The pilot, John W. Foster, a Maryland, was pronounced dead at Waterbury Hospital. The Connecticut Post reported Foster worked for a tech company in Danbury.
Authorities used a flat-bed truck to cart away wreckage Thursday.
The state medical examiner said Foster died from multiple blunt force trauma. His death has been ruled an accident.
Foster’s plane was a small, very fast Glasair III, classified as experimental by the FAA. Experimental class means the plane could have required some assembly by Foster.
Click here for information on Foster’s plane.
Click here to see a photo of the plane prior to the crash.
The following was posted at 10 p.m. Wednesday:
A pilot is dead after his single engine plane crashed near Oxford Airport Wednesday evening.
According to State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance, the approaching plane hit a high tension wire and struck an electrical substation, knocking out power to more than 5,800 in the surrounding area.
Vance said shortly after 5 p.m. air traffic control personnel reported to Oxford emergency officials that they had lost contact with the plane.
Police and fire crews began a search of the area around the airport.
Thirteen minutes later they found the wrecked plane in a CL&P electrical substation near the far end of the runway, Vance said.
The pilot, a man, was pulled from the wreckage and rushed to Waterbury Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The man was the only person on the plane,
“We are actively trying to make a positive identification and notify the next of kin,” Vance said at a 7:45 p.m. press conference.
Courant.com, citing the FAA , said the plane was a single-engine, Glasair III registered to John W. Foster.
Arlene Salac, New England FAA spokeswoman, wasn’t available to confirm those details late Wednesday.
FAA records indicate the plane is classified as experimental and was manufactured in 2008.
Vance said preliminary information indicates the flight originated in Maryland.
The National Transportation Safety Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration were at the scene investigating Wednesday night.
Mitch Gross, spokesman for CL&P said the power lines damaged in the crash provided electricity to approximately 58,000 residents in Oxford, Middlebury, Southbury and Waterbury.
The Associated Press also reported that a power line and a electrical tower were damaged near the substation.
However, authorities Wednesday did not have definitive answers.
“We’re not sure of the sequence of events,” Gross said. “Let the FAA determine that and try to piece it together.”
Gross said the power lines contain hundreds of thousands of kilovolts. Just one line contains 115,000 kilovolts, Gross said. One kilo volt equals 1,000 volts.
Gross said CL&P workers were able to re- route power to a majority of customers in the region within three hour of the crash. Only about 325 customers were still in the dark at about 7:30 p.m.
Oxford Fire Marshal Scott Pelletier said the substation was built within the last year and a half.
Pelletier said CL&P was on the scene “almost immediately.”
The victim was taken to Waterbury Hospital by an ambulance from Beacon Falls because an Oxford ambulance was at another call.
Emergency crews were still at the scene as of 10:12 p.m.
Officials at the airport declined comment Wednesday.
The following story was posted at 5:30 p.m., then updated at 7:30 p.m.
A small plane has crashed near Oxford Airport.
State police have confirmed the pilot, the only person on the plane, is dead. The victim’s name was not immediately available. The flight originated out of Maryland, according to state police.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration are on their way to the scene, according to Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the FAA.
Salac said the small, single-engine plane was attempting to land.
“There was one person on board the aircraft,” Salac said at 5:50 p.m. “That’s all I have at this time.”
The Oxford fire department and the ambulance association were dispatched. Emergency crews from surrounding towns were also sent.
Initial reports from the scene indicate the plane may have clipped a high tension wire, then hit a power substation.
Christian Street is closed. Click here for a map.
More details will be posted as they emerge.
