William Hampton, Chad Davidson Obituary, Death: – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a preliminary report this week regarding the plane crash in western Massachusetts that resulted in the deaths of three individuals. Although the cause of the crash remains unknown, the FAA’s report, which was made public on Tuesday, classified it as an accident. The incident occurred when the Beechcraft 55 Baron Twin-Piston aircraft departed from Barnes Airport in Westfield at approximately 11:06 a.m. on Sunday. Just twenty-four minutes later, at around 11:30 a.m., the small plane appeared to be heading towards a crash.
Over an hour later, Massachusetts State Police discovered the wreckage of the plane in a small clearing within the Leyden Wildlife Management Area. The crash site was located on the side of a wooded mountain, near the border between Greenfield and Leyden.
On Monday, the victims were identified as William Hampton, a 68-year-old resident of Indian Orchard, Massachusetts; Chad Davidson, a 29-year-old from Woodstock, Connecticut; and Frederika Ballard, a 53-year-old from Southwick, Massachusetts. Ballard was the owner of Fly Lugu Flight School in Westfield, Hampton worked as a flight instructor for the company, and Davidson was a student pilot, according to state police.
Both the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the FAA have confirmed that they are conducting investigations into the crash of the twin-engine airplane, which occurred under unknown circumstances near the Leyden Wildlife Management Area, close to the Greenfield town line. The NTSB will take the lead in determining the cause of the crash, with assistance from the FAA. An NTSB investigator is scheduled to visit the crash site on Monday to document the scene and examine the aircraft. The investigation will focus on the pilot, the aircraft itself, and the operating environment. The investigator’s tasks include gathering information and records related to flight track data, such as air traffic control communications, aircraft maintenance, and the pilot’s background over the past 72 hours. The NTSB anticipates that its final report will be completed within a timeframe of 12 to 24 months.