Kathryn's Report: Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar, N326CW: Fatal accident occurred October 05, 2019 near Kokomo Municipal Airport (KOKK), Howard County, Indiana
The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident.
Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Indianapolis, Indiana
Aviation Accident Preliminary Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
https://registry.faa.gov/N326CW
Location: Kokomo, IN
Accident Number: CEN20FA002
Date & Time: 10/05/2019, 1637 EDT
Registration: N326CW
Aircraft: Piper AEROSTAR 602P
Injuries: 1 Fatal
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General Aviation - Business
On October 5, 2019, about 1637 eastern daylight time, a Piper Aerostar 602P, N326CW, departed from Kokomo Municipal Airport (OKK), Kokomo, Indiana, and impacted a field about 3.6 miles south of the airport. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces. The airline transport pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to Indiana Paging Network Inc and was operated by the pilot under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a business flight that was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight while departing from OKK.
On the day of the accident, the flight departed from Peter O Knight Airport (TPF), Tampa, Florida, about 0645 and arrived at OKK about 1027. The purpose of the flight was for the pilot, who was employed by In Flight Review, Inc, based in Tampa, Florida, to provide Piper PA-42 Cheyenne recurrent training to a customer based at OKK.
According to the airport employee who fueled the airplane, he asked the pilot of N326CW, while on approach to the airport, if he wanted jet fuel, and the pilot said "yes." He said the he asked the pilot if he wanted jet fuel because the airplane looked like a jet airplane. When the airplane arrived, the employee pulled the Jet A fuel truck out and parked it in front of the airplane while the pilot was still inside the airplane. The employee said that he asked the pilot again if he was wanted jet fuel, and the pilot said "yes." The employee fueled the airplane with about 163 gallons of Jet A from the fuel truck. The employee said that he was able to orientate the different shaped nozzle (relative to the 100 low lead fuel truck nozzle) from the Jet A fuel truck by positioning it 90 degrees over the wing fuel tank filler necks and about 45 degrees over the fuselage filler necks. He said the he initially spilled about one gallon of fuel during refueling and adjusted his technique so subsequent fuel spillage was minimal.
The Jet A fuel truck had "JET A" on its left, right, and rear sides.
The employee that was inside the fixed base operator building about 1620 heard the engines start. After the engines started, the engines sounded "typical." He said that he did not hear any radio transmissions from the pilot during his departure and did not hear an engine runup.
The pilot, who received recurrent training from the accident pilot, stated the accident pilot began training right away beginning about 1045. They completed training and it was after 1630 when the pilot drove the accident pilot to N326CW. The pilot said the accident pilot visually checked the fuel tanks of the airplane and gave a "thumbs-up" to the pilot. The pilot did not stay for the remainder of the accident pilot's preflight and drove off. The pilot heard the engines start and "they sounded normal." The pilot did not see the takeoff. The pilot said the winds favored runway 14, which was in use on the day of the accident.
A witness stated that she saw a "low flying" airplane flying from north to south. The airplane made a "sharp left turn" to the east. The left wing "dipped low" and she then lost sight of the airplane but when she approached the intersection near the accident site, she saw the airplane on the ground.
Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed the airplane wreckage path was about 328 ft in length along an approximate heading of 046° on a dry and hard surfaced fallow bean field. Components of the left side of the airplane were near the southwestern portion of the wreckage path. The wreckage and the wreckage path displayed features consistent with an accelerated stall.
The examination revealed the presence of a clear liquid consistent in color and order with that of Jet A in a fuselage tank and in the fuel lines leading to the fuel manifolds of both engines. Several of the engine spark plugs exhibited damage consistent with detonation. Flight control continuity was confirmed. The landing gear was in the retracted position.
Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information
Aircraft Make: Piper
Registration: N326CW
Model/Series: AEROSTAR 602P
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: No
Operator: Pilot
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None
Meteorological Information and Flight Plan
Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: OKK, 832 ft msl
Observation Time: 1656 EDT
Distance from Accident Site: 3 Nautical Miles
Temperature/Dew Point: 22°C / 8°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Clear
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 9 knots / , 140°
Lowest Ceiling: None
Visibility: 10 Miles
Altimeter Setting: 30.01 inches Hg
Type of Flight Plan Filed: None
Departure Point: Kokomo, IN (OKK)
Destination:
Wreckage and Impact Information
Crew Injuries: 1 Fatal
Aircraft Damage: Destroyed
Passenger Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 Fatal
Latitude, Longitude: 40.475000, -86.063333 (est)
Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation may contact them by email eyewitnessreport@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A well-known Tampa Bay area plastic surgeon was killed after the wrong fuel was put in his plane on October 5th, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. 8 On Your Side Investigative Reporter Mahsa Saeidi has now learned the airport employee who fueled the plane had been on the job just six weeks.
Dr. Daniel Greenwald was flying a Piper Aerostar 602P in central Indiana when he crashed in a field last month. The 59-year-old died from blunt-force trauma in the crash, according to an Indiana coroner.
NTSB officials say jet fuel was put into the plane Greenwald was flying instead of the regular aviation gasoline that should have been used. 8 On Your Side spoke with aviation expert, Captain John Cox, who tells us jet fuel would have caused the engine to quit.
8 On Your Side Investigates has received new information about this case from Beth Copeland, the attorney for the City of Kokomo in Indiana.
According to Copeland, the fueling technician was hired by the city on Aug. 26, 2019. The college student was paid $11 an hour. His previous experience included jobs at the YMCA and Burger King but nothing in the aviation field.
Investigators say the plane crash happened shortly after Greenwald left the Kokomo Municipal Airport.
According to the NTSB report, the airport employee who fueled the plane says he asked Greenwald twice if he wanted jet fuel. That employee claims Greenwald said “yes” both times. However, Greenwald was an experienced general aviation pilot with hundreds of hours of flight time experience. Friends say Greenwald would have known the effect the jet fuel would have had on the plane’s engine.
The NTSB has not issued its final report but this case raises questions about the training of workers at smaller airports across the country.
Right now, it’s unclear if the new technician was being supervised when he reportedly pumped jet fuel into Dr. Greenwald’s plane.
“It is a place that a lot of people in aviation start, myself included,” said Captain Cox. “This type of error has happened before and unfortunately, I don’t think this is the last time we’ll see it.”
According to an Advisory Circular obtained by 8 On Your Side Investigates, the FAA can require specific training at big airports like Tampa International but they can only make recommendations at smaller airports.
“The responsibility lies with the operator to provide adequate training,” said Captain Cox.
Copeland sent 8 On Your Side Investigates the job description for the technician’s position. In addition to fueling, he was responsible for maintaining fuel trucks and servicing airplanes.
8 On Your Side has asked the City of Kokomo to provide details about the technician’s training. We are waiting to hear back.
In the meantime, NTSB investigators say the technician reported difficulty in refueling the doctor’s plane because the nozzle didn’t fit.
“Should be a red flag?” asked investigative reporter Mahsa Saeidi.
“It should certainly have caused him to ask questions,” said Captain Cox.
The NTSB is still investigating. 8 On Your Side Investigates will continue to follow this story.
Story and video ➤ https://www.wfla.com
Dr. Daniel Greenwald
TAMPA — Dr. Daniel P. Greenwald knew what to do in a mid-air emergency. The well-known Tampa plastic surgeon had been flying since he was a teen and had trained countless pilots as a part-time flight instructor.
But last week, Greenwald found himself in a mid-air crisis he couldn’t escape. And now a preliminary investigative report reveals a stunning possible cause of the crash that killed him: The plane he was flying had been filled with the wrong type of fuel.
A worker at the Kokomo Municipal Airport in Indiana put 163 gallons of jet fuel in the Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar, according to a report the National Transportation Safety Board released Thursday. The Aerostar is a propeller plane with twin engines designed to run on standard, low-lead aviation gasoline.
The report does not blame the apparent fuel mix-up for the crash. A determination on the cause will be included, if possible, in a final report that typically takes several months to complete.
But Robert Losurdo, founder and CEO of In Flight Review, a Tampa-based flight instruction company that Greenwald worked for, says he already is convinced.
“Guaranteed, 100 percent," Losurdo said. “If he had regular fuel, he’d be home in Tampa.”
Greenwald left Tampa’s Peter O. Knight airport in the Aerostar about 6:45 a.m. Saturday and arrived at Kokomo Municipal about 10:27 a.m., the report says. Greenwald went to Kokomo that day to train a pilot in a different model of Piper plane, a Cheyenne.
An employee at the Kokomo facility later told investigators that as Greenwald was approaching the airport in the Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar, the employee asked him if he wanted jet fuel, and Greenwald said “yes.” The employee, who is not named in the report, told investigators he asked because the Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar looked like a jet airplane, according to the report.
When Greenwald arrived, the employee parked the jet fuel truck in front of the Aerostar while Greenwald was still inside. The truck was marked with “JET A” on the left, right and rear sides.
“The employee said that he asked the pilot again if he wanted jet fuel, and the pilot said, ‘yes,’ ” the report says.
Jet fuel nozzles are shaped differently from nozzles for standard aviation fuel but the employee told investigators he was able to fill the Aerostar by positioning the nozzle at certain angles. The employee said he initially spilled about a gallon of fuel during refueling and “adjusted his technique so subsequent fuel spillage was minimal,” the report says.
Greenwald completed the training with the student pilot in the Cheyenne and they returned to the Aerostar about 4:20 p.m. The student pilot told investigators Greenwald visually checked the Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar fuel tanks and gave the student pilot a thumbs-up sign. The student pilot said he heard the engines start up and they sounded normal. The airport employee who filled the plane described the engine sound as “typical.”
Another witness told investigators she saw the Piper flying low and make a sharp left turn. The left wing “dipped low” and the witness lost sight of the plane until she came upon the wreckage in a bean field about four miles from the airport.
An examination of the plane found a clear liquid consistent with jet fuel in the planes’ fuselage tank and in the fuel lines leading to both fuel manifolds. Several of the plane’s spark plugs showed damage “consistent with detonation," the report says.
Beth Copeland, city attorney for Kokomo, sent a statement in response to the Times noting that the NTSB report says the airport employee asked the pilot twice if he wanted jet fuel and both times he answered yes.
“The City does not dispute that," the statement said. "The incident is tragic, and the City offers its sincerest condolences to the pilot’s family.”
Losurdo said there’s no way that Greenwald would have knowingly ordered jet fuel for the Aerostar, a model of plane Greenwald has owned. In addition to his successful private medical practice, Bayshore Plastic Surgery, Greenwald has worked as an instructor for In Flight Review for at least 15 years, Losurdo said.
Perhaps Greenwald misheard the employee, but even if it’s a case of miscommunication, the employee made a mistake, Losurdo said.
“There’s got to be some responsibility there for the fact that linemen have to know the difference between a piston airplane and a jet airplane," he said.
Losurdo suspects there was enough standard gasoline in the plane’s tanks to start the engines and take off, and then at least one engine and probably both failed as they tried to fire the kerosene-based jet-fuel.
The Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar is registered to Indiana Paging Network, a company that provides paging services. A message left there Friday was not immediately returned.
Losurdo said Greenwald was training the Cheyenne pilot for another company but apparently also planned to conduct a training session with the Aerostar’s owner. Losurdo said he told Greenwald that he wouldn’t be able to do the training after all because the owner had not submitted the required paperwork to In Flight, so Losurdo suspects Greenwald was on his way back to Tampa at the time of the crash.
Losurdo described Greenwald as a “lovely man” who operated on him after a bout with cancer.
“I cried for two days and have been sick all week,” he said. “I’ve trained thousands of pilots and you’d never expect this to happen.”
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.tampabay.com
Tampa plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Greenwald, seen here with his wife, Juli Robbins Greenwald, died October 5th when the plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff in Kokomo, Indana.
A Tampa doctor with a passion for flying died Saturday after his private plane crashed near Kokomo, Ind.
Dr. Daniel P. Greenwald, 59, was a well-known plastic surgeon with a private practice, Bayshore Plastic Surgery, in Tampa’s Channelside district. He was named one of America’s top surgeons in 2009 and specialized in hand and microvascular surgery, cosmetic plastic surgery and also performed gender reassignment surgeries.
His twin-engine plane took off from Kokomo Municipal Airport sometime before 5 p.m. Saturday, according to Indianapolis station WISH-TV. Then deputies found the plane crashed in a soybean field about four miles away. Greenwald was the only person inside the plane and died at the scene of the crash, according to the Howard County Sheriff’s Office. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
Tampa plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Greenwald (top left), seen here with his family, died October 5th when the plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff in Kokomo, Indana.
His family, including his wife and two children, are devastated. “He was the center of our family’s universe,” said his daughter, Alix Greenwald, 31. “I’ve never met anyone more skilled at so many things. He spent all his time learning new things, mastering skills and spending time with his family.”
Daniel Greenwald, the former head of plastic surgery at Tampa General Hospital, had been flying planes since he was a teenager, he told the Tampa Bay Times in 2003. The hobby was an adrenaline rush that he found relaxing.
Tampa plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Greenwald died October 5th when the plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff in Kokomo, Indana.
“I get to recharge my batteries by directing all my mental abilities into one specific thing that’s not work,” he told the Times. “Everything else in life takes a back seat to what you’re doing” in the cockpit. In 2011 he posted a video on YouTube of himself practicing aerobatic maneuvers, like flips and loops, in an Extra 300L plane.
“He was a consummate airman, he was a guy who loved aviation in all forms," said Dr. Richard Karl, a friend, fellow pilot and chairman emeritus of the surgery department at the University of South Florida.. “He pursued jets, he pursued aerobatics — he was a guy who loved to fly as much as he loved to breathe.”
Greenwald had been a member of the medical staff at Tampa General for more than 20 years and his education included studies at Harvard, Princeton and Yale, the hospital said in a news release.
“We will remember Dr. Greenwald’s sparkling intellect, his kindness to everyone he met, and his great enthusiasm, not just for surgical innovation, but for living life to the fullest,” the news release said.
“He was deeply dedicated to his patients, including those who faced devastating traumatic injuries, and his rare skills brought so many of them healing and renewed health.”
Tampa plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Greenwald, seen here with his wife, Juli Robbins Greenwald, died October 5th when the plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff in Kokomo, Indana.
Brushes with danger didn’t seem to chill his enthusiasm for flying. In 2003, his close friend David Cahill, a prominent Tampa neurosurgeon, flipped his twin-propeller Beechcraft while attempting to land in Memphis International Airport. Cahill and a passenger were killed and two others on board were seriously injured. Greenwald and Cahill had co-owned two airplanes: a Seneca and P-Baron, according to an article published in Flying Magazine.
In 2008, Greenwald clipped a sailboat while flying an Extra 300 single-engine plane then careened into a sea wall and flipped into the Peter O. Knight Airport airfield on Davis Islands. Greenwald broke his left hand and his passenger broke his leg in the accident. “I’ve had better days. I am alive,” Greenwald said at the time.
Alix Greenwald said that, besides flying, her father loved seafood, neon, reggae, his community “and above all, my mom, whom he loved to a degree I am in awe of," she said. “He always fully grasped what was important in life.”
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.tampabay.com
KOKOMO, Indiana (WISH) — A man died Saturday in a twin-engine plane crash near Kokomo.
The Saturday afternoon crash was along State Road 22 near County Road 300 East, according to Capt. Jordan Buckley with the Howard County Sheriff’s Office.
The pilot, who was the plane’s sole occupant, died at the scene of the crash, Howard County Sheriff Jerry Asher said.
According to the sheriff’s office, the plane had taken off from Kokomo Municipal Airport sometime before 5 p.m.
Deputies found the plane crashed in a soybean field
One neighbor, who asked not to be named, said she saw the plane fall out of the sky.
“As it got behind the house, here, it went down - one wing went down low to the ground,” the neighbor said. “And then the wing hit the ground and the plane went right on into the field ... I saw the wing start dipping down and I knew he wasn’t going to be able to right the plane ... I’m yelling at the aircraft, actually. I’m saying ‘Get up in the air!’ And then when it hit I kept saying ‘No, no, no, no! you can’t do that!’ ... somebody lost their life. AndIi don’t like seeing things like that. People shouldn’t have to die like that. That had to have been ugly and very frightening for him.”
That neighbor said many smaller planes are seen in the area because of the airfield a few miles away.
The National Transportation Safety Board on Saturday night said the crash was being investigated.
Story and video ➤ https://www.wishtv.com
TAMPA (WFLA) — A community is in mourning as the Tampa Bay area learns about a long time doctor’s death in an Indiana plane crash.
Dr. Daniel Greenwald loved to fly using Peter O. Knight Airport as his base for many years, even flying humanitarian missions out of there.
It was an eerie sight Saturday afternoon; a Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar mangled after crashing in an Indiana field.
The Howard County, Indiana coroner declared Greenwald dead in the plane. No one else was with him.
Back in Tampa, word is spreading about the deadly crash that took the life of the South Tampa cosmetic surgeon.
“We see a lot of sun-exposed skin,” Greenwald said in a previous interview with 8 On Your Side.
He would use his expertise to bring awareness to important issues.
“Cancer has a bad name because it’s cancer,” he said.
His colleagues at Tampa General Hospital, where he worked for more than two decades, shared a touching tribute Sunday evening.
“He was an immensely talented surgeon who took on the most complex cases and mastered them.”
In the statement, hospital staff said, “No matter how busy he was, he always took time to connect with the people around him with sincerity and empathy. He was deeply dedicated to his patients, including those who faced devastating traumatic injuries.”
8 On Your Side learned from those he worked with that he had hundreds of hours of flight time, using that and his medical skills to give back. Greenwald once flew medical supplies to Haiti after an earthquake in 2018. He also donated his time as a surgeon to help those hurt.
On social media, former patients, friends, and those in the aviation community shared how Greenwald inspired them.
The NTSB and FAA are investigating the crash. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay continues to mourn a well-known figure of our community.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.wfla.com
A plane crash near Kokomo left one person dead late Saturday afternoon.
Only a pilot was onboard when the plane crashed in a soybean field around 5 p.m., Howard County Sheriff's Office Capt. Jordan Buckley said. A coroner pronounced the pilot dead on scene.
The Howard County coroner's office on Sunday identified the man killed as Dr. Daniel P. Greenwald, 59. Greenwald was a plastic surgeon from Tampa, Florida.
The Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar crashed 3 1/2 miles south of Kokomo due to unknown circumstances, Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Tony Molinaro said.
The plane crashed in the area of State Road 22 between 300 East and 500 East south of Kokomo. Roadways near the field reopened to traffic hours after the crash. Kokomo is approximately 50 miles north of Indianapolis.
The NTSB is in charge of the investigation, Molinaro said.
The Howard County Sheriff’s Department, Kokomo Fire Department, Kokomo Police Department, Indiana State Police, Greentown Fire Department and emergency medical services were dispatched to the scene.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.indystar.com
Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Indianapolis, Indiana
Aviation Accident Preliminary Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
https://registry.faa.gov/N326CW
Location: Kokomo, IN
Accident Number: CEN20FA002
Date & Time: 10/05/2019, 1637 EDT
Registration: N326CW
Aircraft: Piper AEROSTAR 602P
Injuries: 1 Fatal
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General Aviation - Business
On October 5, 2019, about 1637 eastern daylight time, a Piper Aerostar 602P, N326CW, departed from Kokomo Municipal Airport (OKK), Kokomo, Indiana, and impacted a field about 3.6 miles south of the airport. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces. The airline transport pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to Indiana Paging Network Inc and was operated by the pilot under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a business flight that was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight while departing from OKK.
On the day of the accident, the flight departed from Peter O Knight Airport (TPF), Tampa, Florida, about 0645 and arrived at OKK about 1027. The purpose of the flight was for the pilot, who was employed by In Flight Review, Inc, based in Tampa, Florida, to provide Piper PA-42 Cheyenne recurrent training to a customer based at OKK.
According to the airport employee who fueled the airplane, he asked the pilot of N326CW, while on approach to the airport, if he wanted jet fuel, and the pilot said "yes." He said the he asked the pilot if he wanted jet fuel because the airplane looked like a jet airplane. When the airplane arrived, the employee pulled the Jet A fuel truck out and parked it in front of the airplane while the pilot was still inside the airplane. The employee said that he asked the pilot again if he was wanted jet fuel, and the pilot said "yes." The employee fueled the airplane with about 163 gallons of Jet A from the fuel truck. The employee said that he was able to orientate the different shaped nozzle (relative to the 100 low lead fuel truck nozzle) from the Jet A fuel truck by positioning it 90 degrees over the wing fuel tank filler necks and about 45 degrees over the fuselage filler necks. He said the he initially spilled about one gallon of fuel during refueling and adjusted his technique so subsequent fuel spillage was minimal.
The Jet A fuel truck had "JET A" on its left, right, and rear sides.
The employee that was inside the fixed base operator building about 1620 heard the engines start. After the engines started, the engines sounded "typical." He said that he did not hear any radio transmissions from the pilot during his departure and did not hear an engine runup.
The pilot, who received recurrent training from the accident pilot, stated the accident pilot began training right away beginning about 1045. They completed training and it was after 1630 when the pilot drove the accident pilot to N326CW. The pilot said the accident pilot visually checked the fuel tanks of the airplane and gave a "thumbs-up" to the pilot. The pilot did not stay for the remainder of the accident pilot's preflight and drove off. The pilot heard the engines start and "they sounded normal." The pilot did not see the takeoff. The pilot said the winds favored runway 14, which was in use on the day of the accident.
A witness stated that she saw a "low flying" airplane flying from north to south. The airplane made a "sharp left turn" to the east. The left wing "dipped low" and she then lost sight of the airplane but when she approached the intersection near the accident site, she saw the airplane on the ground.
Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed the airplane wreckage path was about 328 ft in length along an approximate heading of 046° on a dry and hard surfaced fallow bean field. Components of the left side of the airplane were near the southwestern portion of the wreckage path. The wreckage and the wreckage path displayed features consistent with an accelerated stall.
The examination revealed the presence of a clear liquid consistent in color and order with that of Jet A in a fuselage tank and in the fuel lines leading to the fuel manifolds of both engines. Several of the engine spark plugs exhibited damage consistent with detonation. Flight control continuity was confirmed. The landing gear was in the retracted position.
Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information
Aircraft Make: Piper
Registration: N326CW
Model/Series: AEROSTAR 602P
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: No
Operator: Pilot
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None
Meteorological Information and Flight Plan
Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: OKK, 832 ft msl
Observation Time: 1656 EDT
Distance from Accident Site: 3 Nautical Miles
Temperature/Dew Point: 22°C / 8°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Clear
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 9 knots / , 140°
Lowest Ceiling: None
Visibility: 10 Miles
Altimeter Setting: 30.01 inches Hg
Type of Flight Plan Filed: None
Departure Point: Kokomo, IN (OKK)
Destination:
Wreckage and Impact Information
Crew Injuries: 1 Fatal
Aircraft Damage: Destroyed
Passenger Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 Fatal
Latitude, Longitude: 40.475000, -86.063333 (est)
Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation may contact them by email eyewitnessreport@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A well-known Tampa Bay area plastic surgeon was killed after the wrong fuel was put in his plane on October 5th, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. 8 On Your Side Investigative Reporter Mahsa Saeidi has now learned the airport employee who fueled the plane had been on the job just six weeks.
Dr. Daniel Greenwald was flying a Piper Aerostar 602P in central Indiana when he crashed in a field last month. The 59-year-old died from blunt-force trauma in the crash, according to an Indiana coroner.
NTSB officials say jet fuel was put into the plane Greenwald was flying instead of the regular aviation gasoline that should have been used. 8 On Your Side spoke with aviation expert, Captain John Cox, who tells us jet fuel would have caused the engine to quit.
8 On Your Side Investigates has received new information about this case from Beth Copeland, the attorney for the City of Kokomo in Indiana.
According to Copeland, the fueling technician was hired by the city on Aug. 26, 2019. The college student was paid $11 an hour. His previous experience included jobs at the YMCA and Burger King but nothing in the aviation field.
Investigators say the plane crash happened shortly after Greenwald left the Kokomo Municipal Airport.
According to the NTSB report, the airport employee who fueled the plane says he asked Greenwald twice if he wanted jet fuel. That employee claims Greenwald said “yes” both times. However, Greenwald was an experienced general aviation pilot with hundreds of hours of flight time experience. Friends say Greenwald would have known the effect the jet fuel would have had on the plane’s engine.
The NTSB has not issued its final report but this case raises questions about the training of workers at smaller airports across the country.
Right now, it’s unclear if the new technician was being supervised when he reportedly pumped jet fuel into Dr. Greenwald’s plane.
“It is a place that a lot of people in aviation start, myself included,” said Captain Cox. “This type of error has happened before and unfortunately, I don’t think this is the last time we’ll see it.”
According to an Advisory Circular obtained by 8 On Your Side Investigates, the FAA can require specific training at big airports like Tampa International but they can only make recommendations at smaller airports.
“The responsibility lies with the operator to provide adequate training,” said Captain Cox.
Copeland sent 8 On Your Side Investigates the job description for the technician’s position. In addition to fueling, he was responsible for maintaining fuel trucks and servicing airplanes.
8 On Your Side has asked the City of Kokomo to provide details about the technician’s training. We are waiting to hear back.
In the meantime, NTSB investigators say the technician reported difficulty in refueling the doctor’s plane because the nozzle didn’t fit.
“Should be a red flag?” asked investigative reporter Mahsa Saeidi.
“It should certainly have caused him to ask questions,” said Captain Cox.
The NTSB is still investigating. 8 On Your Side Investigates will continue to follow this story.
Story and video ➤ https://www.wfla.com
Dr. Daniel Greenwald
TAMPA — Dr. Daniel P. Greenwald knew what to do in a mid-air emergency. The well-known Tampa plastic surgeon had been flying since he was a teen and had trained countless pilots as a part-time flight instructor.
But last week, Greenwald found himself in a mid-air crisis he couldn’t escape. And now a preliminary investigative report reveals a stunning possible cause of the crash that killed him: The plane he was flying had been filled with the wrong type of fuel.
A worker at the Kokomo Municipal Airport in Indiana put 163 gallons of jet fuel in the Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar, according to a report the National Transportation Safety Board released Thursday. The Aerostar is a propeller plane with twin engines designed to run on standard, low-lead aviation gasoline.
The report does not blame the apparent fuel mix-up for the crash. A determination on the cause will be included, if possible, in a final report that typically takes several months to complete.
But Robert Losurdo, founder and CEO of In Flight Review, a Tampa-based flight instruction company that Greenwald worked for, says he already is convinced.
“Guaranteed, 100 percent," Losurdo said. “If he had regular fuel, he’d be home in Tampa.”
Greenwald left Tampa’s Peter O. Knight airport in the Aerostar about 6:45 a.m. Saturday and arrived at Kokomo Municipal about 10:27 a.m., the report says. Greenwald went to Kokomo that day to train a pilot in a different model of Piper plane, a Cheyenne.
An employee at the Kokomo facility later told investigators that as Greenwald was approaching the airport in the Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar, the employee asked him if he wanted jet fuel, and Greenwald said “yes.” The employee, who is not named in the report, told investigators he asked because the Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar looked like a jet airplane, according to the report.
When Greenwald arrived, the employee parked the jet fuel truck in front of the Aerostar while Greenwald was still inside. The truck was marked with “JET A” on the left, right and rear sides.
“The employee said that he asked the pilot again if he wanted jet fuel, and the pilot said, ‘yes,’ ” the report says.
Jet fuel nozzles are shaped differently from nozzles for standard aviation fuel but the employee told investigators he was able to fill the Aerostar by positioning the nozzle at certain angles. The employee said he initially spilled about a gallon of fuel during refueling and “adjusted his technique so subsequent fuel spillage was minimal,” the report says.
Greenwald completed the training with the student pilot in the Cheyenne and they returned to the Aerostar about 4:20 p.m. The student pilot told investigators Greenwald visually checked the Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar fuel tanks and gave the student pilot a thumbs-up sign. The student pilot said he heard the engines start up and they sounded normal. The airport employee who filled the plane described the engine sound as “typical.”
Another witness told investigators she saw the Piper flying low and make a sharp left turn. The left wing “dipped low” and the witness lost sight of the plane until she came upon the wreckage in a bean field about four miles from the airport.
An examination of the plane found a clear liquid consistent with jet fuel in the planes’ fuselage tank and in the fuel lines leading to both fuel manifolds. Several of the plane’s spark plugs showed damage “consistent with detonation," the report says.
Beth Copeland, city attorney for Kokomo, sent a statement in response to the Times noting that the NTSB report says the airport employee asked the pilot twice if he wanted jet fuel and both times he answered yes.
“The City does not dispute that," the statement said. "The incident is tragic, and the City offers its sincerest condolences to the pilot’s family.”
Losurdo said there’s no way that Greenwald would have knowingly ordered jet fuel for the Aerostar, a model of plane Greenwald has owned. In addition to his successful private medical practice, Bayshore Plastic Surgery, Greenwald has worked as an instructor for In Flight Review for at least 15 years, Losurdo said.
Perhaps Greenwald misheard the employee, but even if it’s a case of miscommunication, the employee made a mistake, Losurdo said.
“There’s got to be some responsibility there for the fact that linemen have to know the difference between a piston airplane and a jet airplane," he said.
Losurdo suspects there was enough standard gasoline in the plane’s tanks to start the engines and take off, and then at least one engine and probably both failed as they tried to fire the kerosene-based jet-fuel.
The Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar is registered to Indiana Paging Network, a company that provides paging services. A message left there Friday was not immediately returned.
Losurdo said Greenwald was training the Cheyenne pilot for another company but apparently also planned to conduct a training session with the Aerostar’s owner. Losurdo said he told Greenwald that he wouldn’t be able to do the training after all because the owner had not submitted the required paperwork to In Flight, so Losurdo suspects Greenwald was on his way back to Tampa at the time of the crash.
Losurdo described Greenwald as a “lovely man” who operated on him after a bout with cancer.
“I cried for two days and have been sick all week,” he said. “I’ve trained thousands of pilots and you’d never expect this to happen.”
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.tampabay.com
Tampa plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Greenwald, seen here with his wife, Juli Robbins Greenwald, died October 5th when the plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff in Kokomo, Indana.
A Tampa doctor with a passion for flying died Saturday after his private plane crashed near Kokomo, Ind.
Dr. Daniel P. Greenwald, 59, was a well-known plastic surgeon with a private practice, Bayshore Plastic Surgery, in Tampa’s Channelside district. He was named one of America’s top surgeons in 2009 and specialized in hand and microvascular surgery, cosmetic plastic surgery and also performed gender reassignment surgeries.
His twin-engine plane took off from Kokomo Municipal Airport sometime before 5 p.m. Saturday, according to Indianapolis station WISH-TV. Then deputies found the plane crashed in a soybean field about four miles away. Greenwald was the only person inside the plane and died at the scene of the crash, according to the Howard County Sheriff’s Office. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
Tampa plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Greenwald (top left), seen here with his family, died October 5th when the plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff in Kokomo, Indana.
His family, including his wife and two children, are devastated. “He was the center of our family’s universe,” said his daughter, Alix Greenwald, 31. “I’ve never met anyone more skilled at so many things. He spent all his time learning new things, mastering skills and spending time with his family.”
Daniel Greenwald, the former head of plastic surgery at Tampa General Hospital, had been flying planes since he was a teenager, he told the Tampa Bay Times in 2003. The hobby was an adrenaline rush that he found relaxing.
Tampa plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Greenwald died October 5th when the plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff in Kokomo, Indana.
“I get to recharge my batteries by directing all my mental abilities into one specific thing that’s not work,” he told the Times. “Everything else in life takes a back seat to what you’re doing” in the cockpit. In 2011 he posted a video on YouTube of himself practicing aerobatic maneuvers, like flips and loops, in an Extra 300L plane.
“He was a consummate airman, he was a guy who loved aviation in all forms," said Dr. Richard Karl, a friend, fellow pilot and chairman emeritus of the surgery department at the University of South Florida.. “He pursued jets, he pursued aerobatics — he was a guy who loved to fly as much as he loved to breathe.”
Greenwald had been a member of the medical staff at Tampa General for more than 20 years and his education included studies at Harvard, Princeton and Yale, the hospital said in a news release.
“We will remember Dr. Greenwald’s sparkling intellect, his kindness to everyone he met, and his great enthusiasm, not just for surgical innovation, but for living life to the fullest,” the news release said.
“He was deeply dedicated to his patients, including those who faced devastating traumatic injuries, and his rare skills brought so many of them healing and renewed health.”
Tampa plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Greenwald, seen here with his wife, Juli Robbins Greenwald, died October 5th when the plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff in Kokomo, Indana.
Brushes with danger didn’t seem to chill his enthusiasm for flying. In 2003, his close friend David Cahill, a prominent Tampa neurosurgeon, flipped his twin-propeller Beechcraft while attempting to land in Memphis International Airport. Cahill and a passenger were killed and two others on board were seriously injured. Greenwald and Cahill had co-owned two airplanes: a Seneca and P-Baron, according to an article published in Flying Magazine.
In 2008, Greenwald clipped a sailboat while flying an Extra 300 single-engine plane then careened into a sea wall and flipped into the Peter O. Knight Airport airfield on Davis Islands. Greenwald broke his left hand and his passenger broke his leg in the accident. “I’ve had better days. I am alive,” Greenwald said at the time.
Alix Greenwald said that, besides flying, her father loved seafood, neon, reggae, his community “and above all, my mom, whom he loved to a degree I am in awe of," she said. “He always fully grasped what was important in life.”
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.tampabay.com
KOKOMO, Indiana (WISH) — A man died Saturday in a twin-engine plane crash near Kokomo.
The Saturday afternoon crash was along State Road 22 near County Road 300 East, according to Capt. Jordan Buckley with the Howard County Sheriff’s Office.
The pilot, who was the plane’s sole occupant, died at the scene of the crash, Howard County Sheriff Jerry Asher said.
According to the sheriff’s office, the plane had taken off from Kokomo Municipal Airport sometime before 5 p.m.
Deputies found the plane crashed in a soybean field
One neighbor, who asked not to be named, said she saw the plane fall out of the sky.
“As it got behind the house, here, it went down - one wing went down low to the ground,” the neighbor said. “And then the wing hit the ground and the plane went right on into the field ... I saw the wing start dipping down and I knew he wasn’t going to be able to right the plane ... I’m yelling at the aircraft, actually. I’m saying ‘Get up in the air!’ And then when it hit I kept saying ‘No, no, no, no! you can’t do that!’ ... somebody lost their life. AndIi don’t like seeing things like that. People shouldn’t have to die like that. That had to have been ugly and very frightening for him.”
That neighbor said many smaller planes are seen in the area because of the airfield a few miles away.
The National Transportation Safety Board on Saturday night said the crash was being investigated.
Story and video ➤ https://www.wishtv.com
TAMPA (WFLA) — A community is in mourning as the Tampa Bay area learns about a long time doctor’s death in an Indiana plane crash.
Dr. Daniel Greenwald loved to fly using Peter O. Knight Airport as his base for many years, even flying humanitarian missions out of there.
It was an eerie sight Saturday afternoon; a Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar mangled after crashing in an Indiana field.
The Howard County, Indiana coroner declared Greenwald dead in the plane. No one else was with him.
Back in Tampa, word is spreading about the deadly crash that took the life of the South Tampa cosmetic surgeon.
“We see a lot of sun-exposed skin,” Greenwald said in a previous interview with 8 On Your Side.
He would use his expertise to bring awareness to important issues.
“Cancer has a bad name because it’s cancer,” he said.
His colleagues at Tampa General Hospital, where he worked for more than two decades, shared a touching tribute Sunday evening.
“He was an immensely talented surgeon who took on the most complex cases and mastered them.”
In the statement, hospital staff said, “No matter how busy he was, he always took time to connect with the people around him with sincerity and empathy. He was deeply dedicated to his patients, including those who faced devastating traumatic injuries.”
8 On Your Side learned from those he worked with that he had hundreds of hours of flight time, using that and his medical skills to give back. Greenwald once flew medical supplies to Haiti after an earthquake in 2018. He also donated his time as a surgeon to help those hurt.
On social media, former patients, friends, and those in the aviation community shared how Greenwald inspired them.
The NTSB and FAA are investigating the crash. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay continues to mourn a well-known figure of our community.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.wfla.com
A plane crash near Kokomo left one person dead late Saturday afternoon.
Only a pilot was onboard when the plane crashed in a soybean field around 5 p.m., Howard County Sheriff's Office Capt. Jordan Buckley said. A coroner pronounced the pilot dead on scene.
The Howard County coroner's office on Sunday identified the man killed as Dr. Daniel P. Greenwald, 59. Greenwald was a plastic surgeon from Tampa, Florida.
The Piper PA-60-602P Aerostar crashed 3 1/2 miles south of Kokomo due to unknown circumstances, Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Tony Molinaro said.
The plane crashed in the area of State Road 22 between 300 East and 500 East south of Kokomo. Roadways near the field reopened to traffic hours after the crash. Kokomo is approximately 50 miles north of Indianapolis.
The NTSB is in charge of the investigation, Molinaro said.
The Howard County Sheriff’s Department, Kokomo Fire Department, Kokomo Police Department, Indiana State Police, Greentown Fire Department and emergency medical services were dispatched to the scene.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.indystar.com