STURGIS, S.D. (AP) - A preliminary report suggests a student
pilot who died in a crash at the Sturgis airport in western South
Dakota apparently lost control of the Cessna single-engine plane.
Fifty-seven-year-old Charlie Palmer of Dyersberg, Tenn., was
practicing touch-and-go landings on Nov. 11. The National
Transportation Safety Board report indicates Palmer was taking
off after his second landing when the flight instructor saw the
plane spin and hit the ground.
Investigators didn't find anything mechanically wrong with the
plane, and weather conditions on the clear day with light wind do
not appear to have contributed to the crash.
The report also says the plane was involved in a takeoff
accident in 2000, but no one was hurt.
Palmer worked for a business in Sturgis.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-12-20-11 0716EST
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