Deadly Duluth area plane crash detailed in NTSB report
Aerial photo of the Duluth plane crash on June 21, 2023. (Supplied)
DULUTH, Minn. (FOX 9) - A National Transportation Safety Board report is shedding new light on a double fatal plane crash near Duluth last month that claimed the lives of two Cirrus employees.
The preliminary investigative report goes over GPS records tracking the final moments before the plane crashed near a private runway just north of Duluth on June 21. After the crash, deputies identified the victims as 60-year-old Bryan Paul Handyside and 64-year-old Matthew William Joseph.
Handyside, who deputies said was piloting the plane, was reported to have 30 years of piloting experience and was flying a 1946 Aeronca 7CCM.
In the NTSB's preliminary report, records show that the plane took off from Duluth International Airport just before 7 a.m. on June 21, headed toward's Handyside's private grass strip runway. According to the report, the classic plane was used by Handyside in a work-related flying club.
The plane flew 18 miles northeast and approached the private runway from the south.
The report states: "The airplane approached from the south and entered a left downwind for the east runway. The airplane overflew the runway about 100 ft above ground level (agl), and 58 mph groundspeed. Near the departure end of the runway the airplane climbed and accelerated to 64 mph, then gradually slowed to 54 mph and reached a peak of 240 ft agl."
A graphic included in the report shows the plane's path.
The plane then made a left turn and crashed about 450 yards from the grass strip in a densely wooded area.
The report states that the plane had just undergone its annual inspection the day before and was signed off by Handyside.
The NTSB's investigation into the crash is ongoing.