VIENNA — A family of three, identified as victims of a fatal plane crash, were on vacation and attempting to stop for rest at the Youngstown / Warren Regional Airport in Vienna before crash landing nearby, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The three occupants had planned to travel to California before heading to Texas as part of their travel plans. The pilot has been identified as 54-year-old Jawdat Khawam. The two passengers, Martine Arseneault, 45, and their 8-year-old daughter, Daphne Khawam, are all from Laval, Quebec. According to officials, the family was on a plane trip and tried stopping at the airport to rest when the accident occurred around 7:09 p.m. on state Route 11 and Kings Grave Road. Khawam was the CEO and owner of uandmycar.com Inc., operating a private plane, a Beechcraft BE-60.
The twin-engine plane had taken off from Plattsburgh International Airport on Friday at 4:52 p.m. with an estimated arrival at the Youngstown / Warren Regional Airport scheduled for around 7 p.m., according to data provided by FlightAware, a flight tracking data company.
Lt. Dan Morrison with OSHP said the initial response and crash report were completed by the patrol. They then notified the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB, who conducted their own investigation.
Morrison explained that as the pilot attempted to land, the left engine failed, and the plane overshot the runway.
In an effort to recover, the pilot tried to ascend and accelerate, but this maneuver led to a tailspin. Ultimately, the plane nosedived and landed on the belly of the plane. Arriving at the scene he said he saw the aircraft was “severely burned.”
The National Transportation Safety Board was at the site Saturday to investigate the crash that killed the pilot and two passengers.
The NTSB is investigating what caused the twin-engine plane to crash around 7 p.m. Friday. Anthony Trevena, executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority, which oversees operations at the airport in Vienna, said the plane was not associated with the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, which is adjacent to the airport and uses its runways.
The investigation by NTSB will focus on three areas; the pilot, the aircraft and the operating environment. The preliminary report completion is expected within 30 days with a final report anticipated to be released in 12 to 24 months that will include a probable cause of the crash and any contributing factors.
Information will be gathered on:
• Flight track data
• Recordings of any air traffic control communications
• Aircraft maintenance records
• Weather forecasts and actual weather and lighting conditions around the time of the accident
• Pilot’s license, ratings and recency of flight experience
• 72-hour background of the pilot to determine if there were any issues that could have affected the pilot’s ability to safety operate the flight
• Witness statements
• Electronic devices that could contain information relevant to the investigation
• Any available surveillance video, including from doorbell cameras
As an experienced commercial airline transport pilot, Mike Hillman, owner and president of JETS FBO network, was awaiting the plane’s arrival that night. With an expected arrival of 7:04 p.m., Hillman said the plane reported a “single engine emergency” minutes before the fatal accident.
“The crash site would seem to support that information. It would appear as the airplane came to rest that the left engine was inoperative and the right engine was still turning,” Hillman said. He explained that the pilot missed the first landing attempt, a difficult maneuver that requires significant focus and precision.
“The airplane is quite a handful in that configuration. It has a natural tendency to roll toward the inoperative engine,” Hillman said, noting that commercial pilots practice single-engine approaches as part of their required training every six months or every 12 months, depending on which operations they’re in. However, he added that a private pilot may only fly a single-engine approach “once in a career.”
“Therefore, in a single-engine approach there is a great deal of risk if you haven’t practiced that particular emergency recently,” Hillman said. “It’s hard to know all the factors that went into this particular crash. A twin engine aircraft operating on one engine has adverse yaw characteristics.”
Anyone with relevant information, including eyewitness accounts of the accident, can contact NTSB investigators at witness@ntsb.gov.
Have an interesting story? Contact Chris McBride by email at cmcbride@tribtoday.com.
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