BATTLE MOUNTAIN - An aircraft crash that happened May 19 at around 3:40 p.m. near Kingston killed the pilot, Frank App, of Kingston and Truckee, said Lander County Sheriff Ron Unger.
App, who was in a single-seat Avia AC-5M glider, was killed by blunt force trauma, said Unger.
Sheriff's office personnel responded to the scene, secured the scene and waited for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators to get there.
The FAA and the NTSB are conducting investigations, with the NTSB acting as the lead agency.
According to Kurt Anderson, air safety investigator with the NTSB, who is in charge of the investigation, the NTSB had investigators on scene for two days and interviewed witnesses. He said the investigation is ongoing and he is waiting on autopsy and toxicology reports.
According to a preliminary report on the NTSB website, the crash occurred one mile east of Kingston and the aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The report said that according to witnesses, just prior to the accident sequence, the glider was seen in a steep left turn about 500 to 600 feet above ground level. It then suddenly entered a steep climb while still remaining in a steep left turn.
The NTSB report stated that during the climb, the pilot either bailed out of the glider or was ejected. The glider then made an uncontrolled descent into the terrain. Although the pilot was wearing a parachute, its ripcord was not pulled and the parachute did not open.
According to Ian Gregor, public affairs manager with the FAA Pacific Division, few details were available from the FAA. Gregor said the glider crashed under unknown circumstances in an open field.
Long-time Kingston resident Jim Mancuso was an eyewitness to the crash. He said his home is located next to the air strip and he watched the pilot take off on the afternoon of May 19.
He said sometime around 30 to 60 minutes later he was in his shed when he heard a "whirring" noise. He said he came out of his shed and saw the glider with its nose pointing toward the ground. He said it was close to the ground by the time he saw it.
Mancuso said he saw the glider hit the ground once and then bounce. He said he went to the scene and then left because the Kingston Volunteer Fire Department was already on scene.
According to Justice of the Peace Joe Dory, App was a good friend of his.
"He was a very close friend and I am devastated," said Dory. "I can't believe it.
Dory, who has known App for around four or five years, described him as a nice guy who was liked by everyone and who loved to fly. Dory said he was civic minded and an avid skier.
Dory spoke to him on May 18 and he told Dory he was getting ready to go camping in the Alps. Dory said he used to come to the Austin Fly-ins.
Unger said that App was a Vietnam-era pilot.
[[In-content Ad]]
