Officials ID pilot killed in Hollywood banner plane crash
HOLLYWOOD - Officials on Thursday identified the pilot of the banner plane that crashed Wednesday afternoon near a shopping plaza in Hollywood as Mitchell Knaus, 28. He was known to his friends as Mitch.
Concerns about a banner plane's altitude were discussed between the Knaus and air traffic control shortly before the crash that killed Knaus.
During a news conference at the scene, National Transportation Safety Board Senior Air Safety Investigator Brian Rayner said the aircraft was a Piper Pawnee PA25-235 that was operated by Aerial Banner.
He said the aircraft departed North Perry Airport around 12:30 p.m. and was headed to the coast. During the flight, the pilot had a conversation with air traffic control.
"They were speaking back and forth, the controller had some concerns about the pilot's altitude and he reassured the controller that he was going to continue the flight. And then I think the conversation changed somewhat later in the flight," said Rayner.
The NTSB investigator said they are gathering as much evidence as possible to determine what led to the crash.
Rayner said large portions of the flight were captured by cameras mounted on buildings, cellphones, and a television station's helicopter.
"The FAA Flight Standards Office deployed a team of inspectors and they completed a lot of the on-scene work for me yesterday. We are affecting the recovery of the wreckage, we are going to move it to an aircraft recovery facility where we will continue a more detailed examination of the wreckage. We will get into the power plant tomorrow," he said.
The investigation, according to Raner, will look at three aspects, the pilot, the machine, and the environment.
As for the pilot, Rayner said he'll be looking at his training and flight experience.
"Based on company records, he had approximately 325 total hours of flight experience, he was a recent hire, he had only been at the company two weeks, and he had a total of, estimated, 13 to 15 hours of experience in this aircraft make and model," he said.
Knaus's roommate Daniel Corti stopped by the scene of the crash. He said Mitch moved here less than 2 months ago from California for the banner pilot job. He described him as, "Really a great man with plans for his future. Good values, helpful, really nice pleasant person to be with," Corti siad.
Rayner said as for the plane, they are going over the wreckage and the plane's maintenance records.
The environment will take into account weather conditions and the air traffic environment, including the conversation with air traffic control.
Video of the plane showed it bobbing up and down before it crashed.
Rhonda Martinez said she saw the plane before it crashed and knew it was in trouble.
"I saw the plane flying low to the left and I saw the yellow plane with a banner and it seemed like it was losing altitude because it was going in a downward position and that seemed awfully low for a plane to be flying," she said. "Honestly, my dad was in pilot school at one time and I know that the plane that was flying was in trouble."
Rayner praised Hollywood police and fire rescue for their quick response and their efforts to preserve evidence for the investigation. He said he was also thankful that no one on the ground was injured.
The NTSB is looking for witness video. Anyone that has some can mail it to witness@ntsb.gov. They are specifically looking for a video where you can hear noises the engine is making to help their investigation into this tragedy.