By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill — Jimmy Donahue, one of two survivors of the July 12 plane crash at Horace Williams Airport, remains in critical condition at UNC Hospitals.
Donahue, from the Wilmington, Delaware area, sustained serious leg injuries in the crash that killed pilot Tom Pitts and injured Kyle Henn, a man the two were transporting to the area to be with family members following the death of his brother in the Uganda World Cup bombings.
Henn was released from UNC Hospitals last week.
According to a preliminary report issued Saturday by the National Transportation Safety Board, the single-engine Cirrus SR20 bounced several times during the attempted landing.
The report cites several witnesses, including Henn and two of his friends who were at the airport to meet him, describing an erratic landing attempt and a possible attempt to get the plane back into the air.
“The plane bounced a third and fourth time, each time the front wheel hitting first and each bounce getting more pronounced. At this point it seemed like the airplane was out of control,†one of the witnesses, who was not identified in the report, told the NTSB investigator.
The report cited Henn’s account that the plane “hopped†on initial touchdown.
“The airplane touched down on the runway, ‘hopped’ back into the air, touched back down again, and hopped twice more before making a final landing on the runway, about midfield. The pilot applied power, and the airplane went off the left side of the runway. Without enough speed to get airborne, the airplane collided with some trees and a fence, and came to a complete stop,†the report says.
The report also said that examination of the airframe, flight controls, engine assembly and accessories revealed no anomalies. According to the pilot’s log books, it was his first attempt to land at Horace Williams Airport.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell praised Pitts and Donahue, who often flew humanitarian flights, telling the Wilmington’s News Journal, “Delaware is a community of neighbors and people just feel for these families.â€
The link to the full report is ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20100712X63821&key=1