A veteran pilot did not radio his intent to land his plane before colliding mid-air with another plane at the West Georgia Regional Airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary findings.
William Lewis Lindsey, 79, was piloting his 1978 Beechcraft Bonanza alone on Sept. 7 after taking off from Fulton County airport at 10:20 a.m., investigators said. Within 30 minutes, Lindsey's plane collided with one piloted by Taylor Nicole Stone, a 24-year-old flight instructor, and a 20-year-old student from China. All three were killed in the crash.
Stone, who worked for Newnan's Falcon Aviation Academy, was flying a Diamond DA20 and had been practicing landings with a student, whose name has not been released pending notification of family members. Witnesses said it appeared both single-engine planes were attempting to land at the time of crash.
Though there is no air traffic controller at the Carroll County airport, pilots use radios to broadcast their approaches and landings. In addition to Stone, two other Falcon Aviation Academy planes were in the area at the time of the crash, according to the NTSB report. Those two pilots only heard Stone over the radio, the report says.
“All pilots on board both trailing DA20s heard the flight instructor on board the accident Diamond making her position calls in the traffic pattern prior to the collision, the last call being made on the final approach leg of the traffic pattern,” the report says.
Lindsey retired from both the FAA and Civil Air Patrol and lived in College Park. His funeral will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Atlanta, according to his online obituary.
Stone, a Chattanooga native, was a graduate of Middle Tennessee State and lived in Newnan. A childhood friend said Stone had dreamed of becoming a pilot since she was a young girl. Her funeral was held Monday in Chattanooga.
The crash remains under investigation.
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