The Greene County Coroner’s Office pronounced Lansford dead at the scene of the crash.
The on-site investigation could take up to three days includes interviewing eyewitnesses.
Investigators spoke to Tara Speakman, a witness, for a second time on Thursday for about 10 minutes she said.
“They just wanted me to go over my statement and see if I remember anything else or add anything else to what happened,” she said.
Speakman said she reiterated to investigators the pilot was making a left turn and the wing of the plane was down before it rolled, nose dived and crashed.
“Thank God there was no fire,” she said. “That was when we lost him and called for help.”
The NTSB crash investigation will take into account multiple factors, such as pilot medical and flight history, to determine the cause of the crash. The agency will also be working to determine whether airplane maintenance or weather-related issues were a factor.
Preliminary investigation result could be available in a few weeks, however a final report could take up to a year to complete, according to NTSB — an independent federal agency responsible for investigating civil aviation accidents.
A NTSB spokesman at the crash site declined to comment on Thursday.
The airport is expected to remain closed during the investigation, according to Dave Kushner, the airport manager.
Lansford was employed as a corporate pilot, and was on a routine business flight from Indianapolis Executive Airport to Greene County, according to NTSB.
Lansford was a former member of the Ohio Army National Guard. He worked at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport/Airpark Ohio under Tim Epperhart for about one year. Epperhart, who owns the Middletown Regional Flight Training Institute in Middletown and a flight training school in Springfield, called Lansford “a good guy and a great pilot.”
NTSB noted Lansford had more than 2,000 hours of flight time and said the agency does not believe the crash was caused by pilot error.
There was no recorded distress call from Lansford to the air traffic controllers. He terminated his radar service before landing, but this is typical according to NTSB. Wind conditions were 13 knots, gusting to 17 knots, wind, but not unusually bad weather on Tuesday when the plane crashed.
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