NTSB releases report on fiery plane crash outside Richmond

By MARK BOWES
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
Published: May 14, 2008

The pilot of the plane that crashed into a Chesterfield County neighborhood last month had difficulty controlling the aircraft after takeoff and made frequent altitude and directional changes before plunging to the ground and into a house, a preliminary investigative report says.

At least one witness reported seeing a large piece of the Mooney M20M airplane fall to the ground as the aircraft was descending, which appears to correspond with a fiberglass lower fuselage fairing that was found in the front yard of a home about 600 feet from the crash site, said the National Transportation Safety Board report, posted on the agency’s Web site today.

Although the report indicates a loss of control and an erratic flight path by the pilot, Joseph Anthony Grana Jr., 40, of Florham Park, N.J., it doesn’t specify what caused the in-flight loss of control.

Grana and his father, Joseph Anthony Grana Sr., 73, of Richmond, died on impact.

In addition, Melissa M. Bowen, 22, who was staying with her sister at the house on Woodsong Drive, was seriously burned when the plane slid into the home and burst into flames. She is recovering at VCU Medical Center.

Grana was flying with instruments because of inclement weather and a large cloud cover.

The report says a witness at the Chesterfield County Airport, where the plane departed, said Grana remained on the ramp with the engine running for about 15 minutes, then taxied to the end of runway 33, where it remained for another 15 minutes with the engine running.

The witness reported the engine sounded normal during takeoff.

But once in the air, it appears the pilot had difficulty controlling the plane. The report says Grana made several turns to the left and right after ascending in a northwesterly direction for about one minute and climbing to 1,100 feet.

The plane flew over U.S. 360, turned to the left and traveled in a south-southwesterly direction and climbed to 1,400 feet. The plane then turned to the right, first flying in a westerly direction at 1,800 feet, then turned to the left in a west-southwesterly direction, also at 1,800 feet.

But the plane then turned to the right again and descended to 1,600 feet. It continued a right descending turn and dropped to 600 feet, where it was lost on radar near the intersection of Dumaine Drive and Tevis Lane.

The witness who saw a large piece of the aircraft fall to the ground said he also heard the engine sound decrease and noticed the propeller turning slowly. Several other witnesses reporting seeing the plan descend at what they described as a 45-degree attitude. Yet another witness reporting seeing the plane fly in a southerly direction across Woodsong Drive at a high rate of speed, according to the report.

The aircraft hit the ground in front of a house at 3117 Woodsong Drive before impacting that residence. The crash site is about 400 feet south-southeast from the last correlated radar reading, and about 3 ¾ nautical miles from the end of the Chesterfield Airport runway where it took off, the report says.

All structural components necessary to sustain flight, as well as sections of all fight control surfaces, were accounted for at or near the crash site, the report says.

The information released today is not the NTSB’s definitive investigative report. The final report will take another year to complete.