HARRISON — The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the cause of a plane crash in Harrison that killed two men last summer may have been low fuel.
The 1946 Taylorcraft left Maple Ridge Airport Road and crashed into the woods off Route 35, killing pilot George Fortin, 68, of Naples and his passenger, Tony Kalinuk, 73, of Harrison, on Aug. 14, 2010.
According to the report, there was no fuel found in the main fuel tank and only four ounces throughout the entire fuel system.
“A mechanic who had performed the last annual inspection saw the accident pilot earlier that day take the airplane out of the hangar at Limington-Harmon Airport, and noted that the main fuel tank indicator wire was all the way down (indicating a low quantity of fuel). The mechanic mentioned that to the pilot, who responded, ‘it sinks’ and that (Fortin) knew how much fuel he had,” the report said.
It also said the pilot did not hold a proper medical certificate to be flying.
According to investigators, Fortin’s latest application for a third-class medical certificate dated Aug. 19, 2008, was deferred by the Aviation Medical Examiner to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aerospace Medical Certification Division in Oklahoma City, which denied it and sent Fortin a letter.
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