MIRAMAR, Fla. – The flight instructor who survived the fiery, fatal plane crash in Miramar earlier this month tells investigators that he was getting out of the plane when an explosion occurred.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary accident report on the May 12 crash that killed 25-year-old student pilot Mark Daniel Scott and injured flight instructor Andres Bastidas.
“According to the flight instructor, they departed North Perry Airport ... for the practice area which was located about 14 miles west,” the report says. “He stated that halfway to the practice area ‘the right engine failed.’ He followed the engine checklist and secured the right engine, then communicated with the [airport] control tower relaying the engine failure while turning the airplane back toward [the airport]. He stated that the airplane was unable to maintain altitude and positioned the airplane to land on a city street. While descending across a major intersection, the airplane struck powerlines, impacted a residential road, and slid about 750 ft before striking a tree on the right side of the road. The flight instructor stated he was exiting the airplane when an explosion occurred and a postcrash fire ensued.”
The Piper PA-34 registered to the Wayman Aviation flight school crashed on the south side of Pembroke Road near the corner of Hiatus Road shortly before 9 a.m. and then burst into flames. Scott and Bastidas were the only ones on the plane and nobody else was seriously injured.
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector and a representative from the airframe manufacturer examined the plane and said that “the postcrash fire consumed most of the cockpit, cabin, and right wing,” according to the report. “The left wing had separated during the impact and was located near the main wreckage.”
“Initial postaccident examination of the airframe and engines by an FAA inspector and manufacturer representatives revealed no evidence of any preimpact failures or malfunctions,” the report continues.
The preliminary report noted that NTSB did not travel to the scene of the crash. They said at the time of the accident that that wouldn’t be possible initially because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Recordings of the 911 calls from that day were released last week.
See the NTSB’s preliminary report below: