NTSB releases the first report on the plane crash which killed the Bramlage family
The Kansas family traveling from the Bahamas, crashed in central Florida earlier this month, killing all six members of the family, has remained a bit of a mystery.
The Dodge Report released the preliminary report issued Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which indicates the pilot, Ronald Bramlage, changed course to avoid bad weather and experienced an in-flight breakup before crashing.
Bramlage family photo Facebook
Three witnesses reveal some details of the incident.
According to air traffic control communications with Miami, Ronald Bramlage was trying to avoid a large area of precipitation northwest of Lakeland, Fla., just before the crash. Preliminary radar data showed the plane climbed to 25,100 feet and changed direction to the right before it descended to 10,700 feet in exactly one minute, The Kansas City Star reported.
The pilot of a nearby plane reported hearing a mayday call about one minute before hearing the plane’s emergency locator signal.
A second witness, who was inside his home about 1.5 nautical miles from the crash site, said he heard “a whooshing high to low sound, followed by a sound he described as an energy release,” the report said. “He was clear the sound he heard was not an explosion, but more like mechanical fracture of parts.”
This witness was able to capture a video of the plane spinning directly into the ground.
A third witness, who was less than half a mile from the crash site, heard a boom that sounded like it came from a lawn mower and saw black smoke trailing from the spinning plane. The witness and his brother heard the crash and found the front of the plane on fire when they got to the site.
Investigators said sections of both wings, the horizontal stabilizer and elevator were separated from the fuselage.
