The National Transportation Safety Board released its initial report on the Piper PA-31 involved in a crash that killed the pilot last month in Kearney. The plane had been undergoing maintenance for approximately six months and had known deficiencies when it departed.

The Multi-engine Piper PA-31 crashed in a soybean field on July 20, 2023 and killed 79-year-old Alan “Doug” Moler of Valley Center, Kansas. He was the only person on board the aircraft.

The crash occurred around 9:30 a.m. in the field near Cordell Road and NE 150th Street shortly after taking off from Midwest Regional Air Center, located in Kearney, Missouri. According to the NTSB, the plane’s owner, who was not the pilot, was issued a ferry permit to allow the airplane to be flown from the local airport to Kingman, Kansas for further maintenance and inspections.

“According to multiple witnesses, the owner and a mechanic worked on the airplane for about six months; the most recent annual inspection was completed in 2015. Two witnesses reported that during an engine ground run about two weeks before the accident, the right engine was difficult to start and would not produce full power. The witnesses also stated that the inboard fuel tanks ‘horribly’ leaked fuel anytime the airplane was fueled,” according to the initial NTSB report.

Witnesses reported three pilots declined to perform the ferry flight for the owner before Moler took the flight.

Before the accident flight, the owner requested an airport personnel to fuel the airplane.

"During the fueling of 18.53 gallons of Avgas, an unknown amount of fuel leaked from the right-wing inboard fuel tank. According to the mechanic, the airplane had 140 gallons onboard divided between both 50 gallon inboard wing fuel tanks and 40 gallons in the right wing auxiliary fuel tank,” according to the NTSB.

The report also provided details about the plane’s trajectory during the crash, which ultimately ended in a fire engulfing the plane with the pilot inside.

*Photo and ILLUSTRATION provided by the NTSB*

The NTSB said numerous witnesses shot video and stills of the takeoff attempt that showed the airplane becoming briefly airborne before settling back on the runway.

"The recordings showed the airplane become airborne near the runway end and yaw to the right before it climbed parallel with the rising terrain."

A witness about 1.6 nautical miles north of the airport reported to investigators hearing a loud plane that appeared from behind the trees that was headed toward his residence.

“He observed the airplane strike two static wires on a power transmission line before it impacted the canopy of a large tree in his front yard. The airplane continued in a left bank toward a nearby soybean field and impacted the terrain in a nose-low, left-bank attitude. The airplane slid several hundred feet and a post-crash fire ensued.”

The NTSB investigation continues and a final report is expected in approximately 6 months.

KPGZ News - Jim Dickerson contributed to this story