NTSB releases report about fatal March 2008 plane crash in Rome
A flight instructor’s failure to maintain control of the aircraft during a simulated engine failure contributed to the death of both of him and a student pilot during a March 2008 plane crash in Rome, the National Transportation Safety Board has reported.
Lokesh Venkat, 23, of India, was the student pilot flying the plane, and Kwang Yi, 34, of a Duluth address, was the instructor, when the plane crashed March 21, 2008, at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport in Armuchee.
Yi had a lack of total experience as a multi-engine flight instructor, according to the report. He had received his certificated flight instructor rating about three weeks prior to the crash.
The flight school reported that Yi had accumulated approximately 827 total hours of flight experience, including 111 hours in multi-engine airplanes, all in the same make and model as the twin-engine BeechÂcraft BE-76 that crashed.
Venkat was receiving instruction toward a multi-engine airplane rating. According to the NTSB report, the training syllabus for the flight included introduction to engine failures on takeoff and initial climb.
The four-seat Beechcraft crashed on the southern end of the airport just west of Lake Geneva off Godfrey Road.
All major parts of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site.
Yi was flying for Aviation Atlanta Inc., which held the registration for the plane, when it crashed. The company declined to comment Tuesday when contacted by the Rome News-Tribune.
26/05/09 Kaitlin Beard/Rome News Tribune, USA