Plane crash report cites engine trouble

Associated Press and News9.com

LINDSAY, Okla. -- Engine trouble might have caused a plane crash near Lindsay that killed two people, according to the statements of witnesses cited in a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The report, compiled by NTSB investigator Leah Yeager, was released Thursday, five days after a plane carrying William Jackson, 53, and Joe Grimes, 52, crashed near Lindsay Municipal Airport.

The plane was a 2006 Cirrus SR22, fixed-wing, single-engine, propeller-driven aircraft. It was registered in Jackson's name at a Lindsay address.

According to Yeager's report, witnesses said they heard the plane's engine accelerate, then cut out before the crash.

Another witness was in his back yard when he heard the airplane's engine, 'wind up hard.'

"I turned to look at the plane, and it looked like it fell to the ground at a 45-degree angle. The plane disappeared behind a row of trees and then I saw a ball of smoke...then I heard it hit the ground,"' the witness was quoted in the report.

A friend who was at the end of the airport runway to watch the plane land told investigators that he "heard the engine accelerate and then boom," the report noted.

Jackson, a certified pilot, recently had passed his Federal Aviation Administration exam and had logged more than 1,300 hours of flying time, including 230 hours in the plane that crashed. Grimes, a rancher and farmer, was a certified flight instructor and aircraft mechanic who operated an aircraft maintenance facility near the airport.

Jackson also operated two veterinary clinics and was a member of the Lindsay school board. He was up for re-election this week against Kris Cummings.

To read the full report click HERE. (NOTE: The report has Lindsay, KS in the title. This should be Lindsay, Okla.)