Officials of the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash of a single-engine Cessna 182 G Skyland that took the lives of two persons, the pilot and a passenger, Monday, June 6 in Karnes County.
The plane, registered N2118R, was in route from the New Braunfels National Airport in New Braunfels, to the Kenedy Regional Airport (2R9), when the crash occurred, according to a preliminary FAA press release and information provided by officials at the scene.
Texas State Highway Patrol officials reported that Carin Elizabeth Kopecki, 32, of Panna Maria, who was piloting the plane at the time of the incident, and a minor male, later identified as her son, Raley Wayne Kopecki, 5, were killed in the crash.
Among the first on the scene were personnel from the Karnes County Sheriff’s Office, the Karnes County EMS and Karnes County Volunteer Fire Department.
Officials responded to the crash for an airplane extrication alarm call that came in at approximately 3:33 p.m., June 6, with an initial location of a half a mile east of U.S. 181 off of Business Park Drive, about 50 miles southeast of San Antonio, based on data published online by the Karnes County Volunteer Fire Department.
The NTSB investigation is ongoing and it will be sometime before information related to the cause of the crash will be forthcoming. An investigator arrived in the area June 7 and the plane wreckage was scheduled to be impounded on June 8, officials stated.
The role of the NTSB investigation is to collect preliminary data, including radar data if available, human, environmental and weather information, maintenance records for the Cessna, and other factors that may in any way have contributed to the loss of life and aircraft.
The timeline for a preliminary report could be sometime in July, but it may be as long as 12 to 24 months before a final report is published in connection to the crash, according to NTSB information.
Anyone with information to contribute to the investigation may contact the NTSB by email at witness@ntsb.gov.
•baudet@mysoutex.com•