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Last week, Joel W. Lansford, a corporate pilot and an Ohio Army National Guard combat veteran, died Tuesday while attempting to land at the Greene County - Lewis A. Jackson Regional Airport in Xenia. He was flying a Cirrus SR-22 when he crashed.
On Jan. 27, the National Transportation Safety Board — an independent federal agency responsible for investigating civil aviation accidents — launched its investigation into the crash. The agency reported wind conditions were 13 knots, gusting to 17 knots, wind, but not unusually bad weather on Tuesday when the plane crashed.
The federal transportation safety agency does not believe the crash was caused by pilot error, and noted Lansford had more than 2,000 hours of flight time.
NTSB reported there was no recorded distress call from Lansford, 33, to the air traffic controllers. The pilot terminated his radar service before landing, but this is typical.
It is unknown how long it will take to get answers about what caused the crash. Results of the NTSB investigation could take up to a year to report. However, preliminary information about the facts and circumstances that led to the crash could be available in a few weeks, said Peter Knudson, a NTSB spokesman in Washington.
The airport reopened Jan. 29 , according to Dave Kushner, the airport manager.
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