PDK Airshow Crash: Preliminary Report Issued

Image Credit: @fierce_miles

The National Transportation & Safety Board has issued its preliminary report on Saturday's PDK airshow crash that killed pilot Greg Connell.

Connell was behind the stick of his custom-built, Pitts S-2SW biplane when he failed to pull out of a dive and crashed into the ground. Connell was performing toward the conclusion of the airport's Good Neighbor Day Air Show.

"The pilot of the Pitts was performing air show maneuvers and was part of a flight of two, with the other show pilot flying an MX2 airplane," the report said. "An initial examination of video provided by witnesses indicated that the Pitts pilot performed a crossing maneuver with the MX2 over the airfield, and then he pulled up into a loop. As the Pitts descended out of the loop, the wings rocked back and forth as the MX2 approached from the opposite direction. Immediately prior to ground impact, the Pitts appeared to begin a level-off maneuver.

"The airplane impacted the grass infield between runways 21L and 21R."

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The report does not identify the exact cause of the crash. Connell's plane was completely destroyed. A parachute was found in the cockpit seat and there were no indications that Connell had tried to use it.

Connell had registered 1,800 total hours of flying experience on his medical certificate application.

The PDK Good Neighbor Airshow is event that has been going on for more than 30 years. This is the first time a fatal accident has occurred at the show.

The crash happened shortly before 5 pm.

Members of the DeKalb County Cadet Civil Air Patrol Squadron were on the airport's tarmac, preparing to gather an American flag that was about to be dropped as part of a tandem skydiving jump.

Connell crashed right before the skydivers were about to jump. Members of the Civil Air Patrol unit were only about 200 yards from the crash.

Reaction to the tragedy was extensive on social media, and came from many elected officials.

DeKalb County interim CEO Lee May wrote the following message on Twitter:

A tragedy occurred as Prof. Pilots entertained & educated thousands today. Our thoughts & prayers are with the family & friends of the pilot

— Lee May (@LeeMay) May 14, 2016

DeKalb Firefighters respond with Crash 15 to the plane down at #PDKGND2016 https://t.co/nZPeQfPC7M

— DeKalb Firefighters (@DCFRlocal1492) May 14, 2016

Video from the scene posted to Twitter shows the plane crashing into the ground. (Warning: The video contains graphic content)

Video of the crash at the PDK air show. #pdk #airshow https://t.co/o5lbKXwgad

— Duncan Meredith (@duncan_meredith) May 14, 2016