More than a week after a small, single-engined, propeller-driven experimental aircraft crashed on the approach path just south of the Chehalis-Centralia Airport early in the afternoon on Thursday, Sept. 11, the cause of the crash is still unknown.
The term “experimental” refers to the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) airworthiness certificate classification of the aircraft — which are aircraft used strictly for a variety of non-commercial purposes ranging from personal use or air show demonstration to flight training and component testing, according to the FAA’s website.
According to an official at the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Western Pacific Region office in Federal Way, the case has yet to be assigned to an investigator and no immediate updates were available as to the pilot’s identity or medical status. The exact make and model of the experimental aircraft is also still unknown.
While no personnel cuts were made to the NTSB earlier this year during the Department of Government Efficiency audits, NTSB officials have been asking for more resources. Since 2023, they have tried to increase staff levels to reduce the average time it takes to complete an investigation according to an NTSB news release as their caseload has continued to increase since — but investigation delays appear to still persist.
A week later on Thursday, Sept. 18, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office announced that another plane crash occurred at the South Lewis County Airport near Toledo in the early afternoon.
According to a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post, the preliminary investigation indicated the pilot was preparing for takeoff when a “strong crosswind forced the aircraft off the runway and into the tree line. The pilot was uninjured.”
The plane — left mostly intact following the crash — is a 1947 TEMCO Globe GC-1B Swift, a fixed-wing, single-engine propeller driven plane, owned by Lance Christiansen, according to the FAA’s national aircraft registry.
It is unknown if Christiansen was piloting the Globe GC-1B Swift at the time. In the Facebook post, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office added the NTSB had been notified of the incident in order to begin their own independent investigation.
Following the crash on Sept. 11, the Chehalis Police Department issued a news release stating the pilot was a 55-year-old male who was rescued, received medical care from Chehalis Fire Department EMTs and was transported to a nearby hospital via a Life Flight helicopter.
The aircraft appeared to be completely destroyed. As of Friday, Sept. 19, the Chehalis Police Department had no updates as to the pilot’s medical condition.
For additional information, contact the NTSB’s Western Pacific Region office at 253-874-2880.
