NTSB: Pilot deviated from plan in Titusville crash
Update, 11:00 a.m., September 3:
The National Transportation Safety Board on Friday released its initial findings of a deadly plane crash on Aug. 26 in the Indian River Lagoon just east of the Space Coast Regional Airport.
The NTSB said the twin-engine Cessna 310, flown by 59-year-old David Gibbs of Orlando, was destroyed at 4:19 p.m., after a 40-minute flight from Orlando Executive Airport.
The NTSB says the flight was in radio and radar contact as as the pilot was performing an instrument landing system approach to runway 36 at the airport.
Gibbs reported to air traffic control that was performing a missed approach. The tower responded by advising him to fly the standard missed approach procedure and that he should switch radio frequency to Orlando departure frequency. Gibbs' plane started to make a right turn, contrary to the standard procedure, which was to climb to 500 feet and then start a climbing left turn to 2,000 feet.
The Orlando departure controller than asked if Gibbs wanted to fly south or get out of the storm, after which point he said he wanted to turn south after which the controller told the pilot to turn right.
No other communication was received from the aircraft.
The aircraft climbed to 1,100 feet, then descended rapidly to 300 before disappearing from radar.
The recorded weather as of 4:50 p.m. at the airport, 31 minutes after the plane crashed, included roughly sustained winds of a little over 11 mph coming from the east, gusting to over 25 mph with a visibility of three miles with showers and storms in the area.
Gibbs had a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, airplane multi-engine land and instrument airplane. He was most recently issued an FAA second-class medical certificate on August 23, 2013 and at that time he had 976 hours of flight experience.
The wreckage was found in the Indian River in roughly six feet of water with both engines being located about 40 feet apart. They add that about 50 percent of the plane was recovered, including the nosecone, seats, left wing spar and horizontal stabliizers along with both wing baggage compartment doors.
Update, 10:55 a.m. Thursday:
Authorities confirmed with FLORIDA TODAY that they have recovered human remains from the Indian River in the search area near the NASA Causeway.
They have not confirmed if the remains belong to the pilot of the twin-engine Cessna.
The search and investigation are ongoing.
Check back for updates.
Original story:
Brevard County authorities are set to resume search and recovery efforts for a missing twin-engine Cessna aircraft that disappeared Wednesday afternoon on approach to Titusville during stormy weather.
Pieces of debris possibly belonging to the aircraft were pulled out of a section of the Indian River near the NASA Causeway before rescue operations were suspended late Wednesday.
"We're convening this morning with everyone to formulate a plan," said Cpl. Dave Jacobs, spokesman for the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, the lead agency conducting the search. "We're going to resume the search. It's a pretty wide area and they've got quite a bit to cover."
Story continues below:
Contact with the Cessna 310 — believed to be carrying only the pilot — was lost at 4:26 p.m. during the height of harsh weather at Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, according to Brevard County Fire Rescue spokesman Don Walker. The flight had departed from Orlando Executive Airport earlier.
According to the flight-tracking website flightaware.com, the twin-engine Cessna 310 took off from Orlando Executive at 3:55 p.m. and climbed to 3,000 feet as it swung to the south, then to the east, flying initially over State Road 528 before swinging south again in preparation for its turn to the north, lining up with Space Coast Regional Airport's main north-south runway.
According flightaware.com's radar depiction, the plane began encountering heavy weather just a few miles south of the Titusville airport, as it descended through 2,000 feet.
As low as 600 feet at 102 mph, the plane then climbed and accelerated to the northeast, where the tracking recording ends over the shore of the Indian River Lagoon, according to data from Orlando's Terminal Radar Approach Control.
The pilot did attempt a "low approach" landing, but had to abort. Contact was lost about a mile east of the airport at an altitude of 300 feet.
Just after 7 p.m., the Brevard County Sheriff's helicopter spotted some debris about a quarter of a mile east of the airport near the NASA Causeway in the Indian River, according to Walker.
Jacobs said the search had been called off late Wednesday due to inclement weather, visibility and the relatively large area of coverage. The search and recovery efforts by the sheriff's Ag/Marine units, Florida Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Coast Guard, are concentrated about one mile northeast of the airport and about 400 yards off the shoreline.
He also added that the debris found was consistent from material from the plane.
"It has not yet been 100 percent confirmed that it is the aircraft, but all eyes are focused on that area at this time," Walker said.
Space Coast Regional Airport Fire Chief Terry Wooldridge said the pilot is based out of Orlando.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are also assisting in the ongoing investigation. A sheriff's office dive team will examine the debris to determine if it is the missing aircraft.