INDIANAPOLIS — A 20-year-old has been identified as the pilot who was killed last month in Indianapolis following a plane crash on the city’s south side.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its findings Friday following an investigation into the deadly airplane accident.
According to the NTSB, the plane was destroyed around 3:40 p.m. on Jan. 24 after it was “involved in an accident” on Indy’s south side. The pilot and sole occupant of the plane died in the crash.
On Feb. 2, the Marion County Coroner’s Office identified the deceased as 20-year-old Shane Pennington II. The plane Pennington II was flying was identified by the NTSB as a Cirrus SR20 airplane.
According to “automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast data” reviewed by the board, the airplane departed the Indianapolis Executive Airport around 3:26 p.m.
After takeoff, the plane turned left, climbed to about 1,000 feet above the ground and continued southeast over downtown Indy, the NTSB report reads.
The end of the data shows that once south of downtown, the plane made a 360-degree left turn and began a “rapid” descent. The NTSB provided an illustration estimating the plane’s flight path, shown below.
NTSB said there were no direct witnesses to the collision, which occurred near some railroad tracks in a residential area.
One nearby home’s surveillance camera captured the impact sequence, NTSB said, and showed the airplane “impact in a nose and right-wing low attitude”.
The initial impact point of the plane, the report said, was found about 20 feet away from the main wreckage.
“The initial impact contained the propeller blades and fragmented sections of the forward fuselage,” the report reads. “Fragmented sections of the fuselage, wings, and empennage were found in the debris forward of the main wreckage.”
“The airplane damage was consistent with a high angle and high energy impact with terrain.”
An examination of the plane after the crash, NTSB said, revealed no mechanical malfunctions that would cause the crash.
In its report, the NTSB does not specify what type of flight plan was filed prior to takeoff and lists the operator of the plane as “on file”. It also lists “none” under the operating certificate(s) held category.
The NTSB report clarifies that no investigators traveled in person to the scene of the accident, but that the Federal Aviation Administration and Cirrus Aircraft helped contribute to the report.
To read the full report from the NTSB’s investigation, click here.