Board Member Explains Nearly 12-Hour Delay In Finding Wreckage

In a Thursday press conference to update local media on the circumstances surrounding the loss of a training aircraft near Deltona, FL earlier this week, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said they found no obvious discrepancies with the Delta Connection Academy SR20's flight controls or engine.

"We've done a cursory examination on the engine and have not found anything, however, there are some other tests that I want to do in a factory test setting. That's why it's going to Mobile," said Board member Corky Smith, referring to a test facility in Alabama.

As ANN reported, the SR20 impacted a wooded marshland in southern Volusia County at approximately 3 pm Tuesday, claiming the lives of the student pilot and flight instructor onboard. The NTSB said the SR20 took off from DCA's headquarters at Orlando-Sanford International Airport (SFB) about one hour before the accident.

Addressing concerns raised about how long it took search crews to find the plane -- a sheriff's department helicopter spotted the wreckage at about 2:30 am Wednesday morning -- Smith explained DCA officials reported the aircraft missing at approximately 8 pm Tuesday night, one hour after the plane was due to return to SFB.

WESH-2 in Orlando reports a 911 call came in from a local resident within minutes of the crash, and that tape was played for reporters Thursday.

"I was out checking my mail, and my neighbor and I heard a plane, a small-engine plane flying, and then all of a sudden, the engine went silent, and looking due west toward New Smyrna, we saw a plane spiraling," the caller said. "We could see it spiraling down, and after it dropped below the tree line, within like a couple of seconds after that, we heard an explosion."

Despite that call, Smith said authorities had no clear indication a plane had crashed. No smoke from any post-impact fire was evident in the area, and there was no distress call made from the aircraft.

Smith did state the accident flight was to include simulated emergency procedures training, including stalls and slow flight. He could not confirm any of those maneuvers were performed ahead of the accident, though radar records from the Orlando TRACON indicate the plane was in a spiral before impact.

The investigator also confirmed the SR20's ballistic recovery parachute had been deployed, though it appears it was released too low for it to inflate before impact.

The academy often uses the rural area of Volusia County for training ops.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.deltaconnectionacademy.com