Colorado Pilot Tried To Glide To Landing, Report Says
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) - A preliminary report says a pilot who died in a Colorado plane crash was trying to glide to a runway after his plane caught fire. Thomas Lawson, 69, of Golden, died when the Beech 60 airplane landed a half-mile (1 kilometer) north of Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland on May 15.
The National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report says the blades of the airplane's right propeller were in a feathered position, or turned to reduce drag and increase glide distance.
The Fort Collins Coloradoan reports the pilot of another aircraft reported the plane was on fire.
The plane took off from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield. The impact and fire nearly completely destroyed the plane.
Lawson was the only person on board.
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