Debris from the Piper Lance model PA-32RT-300 aircraft litters the street after it crashed on Morning Mauve Avenue at 8:15 a.m. Monday, September 6.
Friday, Sept. 17, 2010 | 12:55 p.m.
Sun Archives
The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report Friday in the fatal crash of a small plane on Labor Day in a residential neighborhood.
The pilot, Douglas Touchet, 45, of Erath, La., was killed and three people were injured after the aircraft crashed into a tree and a light pole. The Piper PA-32RT-300 plane was en route to Roswell, N.M., the NTSB report said.
According to the report, the pilot spoke with a controller at the Henderson Executive Airport shortly after the aircraft took off.
"The controller asked the pilot if he was making a left downwind departure and noted that the pilot responded 'affirmative' and that he 'had trouble gaining altitude.' Shortly after, the pilot advised the controller that he 'had to come back to the airport,'" the report said.
After the controller cleared the pilot to return to the airport, the controller saw the plane fall below the tree line, the report said. Then, he said, he saw a puff of black smoke.
In the report, a witness said he heard the engine “straining to keep the airplane airborne.” That witness also saw a plume of black smoke after he lost sight of the plane, the report said.
Officials said the controller reported that after takeoff, the airplane didn't begin climbing as it should. As the plane crossed the end of the runway, he said, it was about 50 feet above ground level.
The plane crashed about 8:15 a.m. Sept. 6 on Morning Mauve Avenue, a residential street southeast of Silverado Ranch Boulevard and Bermuda Road. The three passengers in the aircraft -- the pilot's wife, Susan Touchet, and Tamika Savoy and her husband, Randall, of Catahoula, La. -- suffered serious injuries. No one on the ground was injured.
The crash occurred 2.4 miles northwest of the Henderson airport. The wreckage has been taken to a secure location for further investigation.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Friday's preliminary report will be followed by a more detailed final report, which the NTSB usually releases six month to a year after a crash.
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