NTSB releases details of two Amherst plane crashes

Dec. 29--The passenger in a fatal plane crash in Amherst County in August 2010 could have played a part in the incident, according to a report released this month by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The "probable cause" report for the crash of the 2010 North Wing Scout XC states a witness saw the craft descending toward a pasture, before the engine revved up again "and the aircraft pitched up at a steep angle."

The aircraft began to make a tight spiral turn and continued until the nose pitched down," the report said.

The August 21, 2010 crash killed pilot John Milhous, 77, of Amherst and his passenger Carl Weber, 47, of Forest.

The plane was registered just a month before the crash.

The report said the plane was equipped with dual flight controls, and a throttle control was located on the passenger's footrest, "and it is possible he manipulated the throttle inadvertently although the investigation was unable to definitively determine if this occurred."

The plane burst into flames just after it crashed into a pasture near Christian Springs Road, and the report said an analysis of the plane wasn't able to find any mechanical anomalies with the plane.

Also this month, the NTSB released a factual analysis of the Oct. 30 crash that injured Vance Phillips, 49, of Laurel, Del.

Phillips was practicing solo landings at Buffalo Ridge Airsports, near Amherst when he crashed his experimental Aeros aircraft.

The report stated the plane stalled multiple times after Phillips lost control during the climb after takeoff.

He crashed during a right turn on his pattern's final leg.

The report quotes Phillips as saying there were no pre-existing mechanical anomalies, and he had a total of 16 hours of flight experience, including one hour in a plane of the same make and model.

No reports since late April have been published regarding the April 22 crash in Altavista's English Park of a Cessna 210D that killed Lynchburg doctor Robert DiGiulio.

That report cited voice communications showing DiGiulio was having trouble monitoring his engine, and was told multiple times to climb in altitude.

He tried more than once to land at Lynchburg Regional Airport, eventually crashing in the park, about 20 miles south of the airport.

Copyright 2011 - The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.