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WARRENTON, Va. (AP) - Canadian officials are continuing theinvestigation into what led two small, private planes to collide inmid-air on Memorial Day in Fauquier County. Sixty-year-old James M. Duncan of Bethesda, Md., and 57-year-oldPaul Gardella Jr. of Burke, Va., were killed when the Beech Bonanzaowned by Duncan crashed and burned after colliding with a PiperPA-28 near Warrenton-Fauquier Airport, the state medical examinersaid. The pilot of the second plane, 70-year-old Thomas Proven, ofBroad Run was injured. He has since been discharged from MaryWashington Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Debbie McInnis saidThursday. The crash is being investigated by the Transportation Safety Boardof Canada because Duncan was a doctor with the NationalTransportation Safety Board and Proven is an inspector with theFederal Aviation Administration. Gardella was a flight instructorand volunteered with the Civil Air Patrol in Washington. The Free Lance-Star reports (bit.ly/KZ9jVu) thatinvestigator Jon Lee said at a late Wednesday news conference thatit's too early to tell what led to the collision. "Our emphasis is working on the accident sites," said Lee. Hecalled it the "field phase" during which investigators will focuson perishable evidence. Investigators also hope to listen to any radio communications bythe pilots, but they haven't been able to check flight recordingsyet, Lee said. Another key will be talking to Proven, who landed his 1965 plane ata nearby farm while the other plane caught fire and crashed into awooded area. But whatever the cause, Lee said midair collisions are rare andhaving a survivor is even more unusual. Proven's plane remained mostly intact after the collision, and theother plane broke into at least two pieces, Lee said. The planeswent down about a mile apart, and debris was scattered between twocrash sites. Witnesses said the plane caught fire in the air and plummeted tothe ground near numerous houses. Proven's plane came "gliding almost with no sound," said67-year-old Jim Flanagan, who owns nearby Sumerduck Wood Farm. "Ithit the ground, glanced up as if it were a ramp and went rightthrough the only opening in the tree line." After the plane landed, Flanagan said, Proven told him the twoplanes collided in the air "and that this was his only hope, was tofind a field, which he did, very successfully.". We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Wine Packaging Boxes , PDQ Display Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Paper Packaging Boxes.
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