DETAILS : Victim in Clark County plane crash devoted to aviation
An investigator was on the scene Tuesday but it could be a week to 10 days before a preliminary report about the crash is available, said Terry Williams, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. They also continued to pull records that might shed some light on how and why the crash occurred,
“This is an active, ongoing investigation and we’re still in the very early stages, Williams said.
Investigators spent Tuesday gathering pilot and maintenance records for the plane, he said. Investigators have also documented information about the crash site and troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol took statements from witnesses. Investigators have not yet had an opportunity to review those statements, Williams said.
RELATED: Clark County plane crash: 5 things to know about experimental aircraft
“The accident occurred off of a family-owned air strip and (the investigator) did speak with some of the family members,” Williams said. “She’s going to speak with more family members or the family member who owned the air strip where the accident occurred.”
Family members have declined to comment.
Emergency 9-1-1 calls released from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office this morning show area residents on the nearby highway saw the small, home-built aircraft crash into a field in Harmony Twp.
An unidentified caller told dispatchers he was driving along I-70 when he saw the plane crash into the field Sunday evening. Spier was the sole occupant and was pronounced dead at the scene.
READ MORE: 3 recent plane crashes in Southwest Ohio involving experimental planes
“To our left, we just saw a small plane crash into a field nose first,” the caller said to an emergency dispatcher in one of the 9-1-1 calls.
A second caller said he was on his porch when he saw the plane go down. The caller also described seeing passersby running through the field to reach the plane.
Spier was employed as a production planner at Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services in Wilmington. He had also worked at Taughannock Aviation Corp., an aircraft management company in New York. He also studied airframe and powerplant technologies at a community college in New York, according to his Facebook page.
The fixed-wing, single-engine experimental plane was certified to Ronald Spier in July 1981, FAA records say. Ronald Spier is certified as a pilot, repairman and experimental aircraft builder.
RELATED: Investigators gathering information on fatal Clark County plane crash
Existing private airstrips don’t face a lot of regulations, said Allan Neimeyer, Clark County community and economic development senior planner. He didn’t know how many such airstrips might be in Clark County and said they’re often on or near farm land, like Ronald Spier’s.
The accident was the second fatal plane crash in Harmony Twp. in the past year. Levon G. King, 81, and Gloria D. King, 85, of Dearborn, Mich., were killed in a crash about a half mile from Newlove Road in July.
About the Author