NTSB Releases Final Report into Double-Fatality Airplane Crash in Osage Beach

Pilot error for not setting a trim is being blamed for an airplane crash that killed two people, including the pilot himself, in July-2023 in Osage Beach.

That is the finding of the National Transportation Safety Board which released its final report into the accident that happened shortly after the Piper PA-28 took off for a sightseeing flight from the Grand Glaize Airport.

Several witness reports only moments before the crash reported the plane seemed to have difficulty gaining altitude before sharply turning and going down in a wooded area on private property near Route-KK.

Killed in the crash were 22-year-old Hayden Ritchhart and one passenger, 19-year-old Evan Vandiver of Richmond. A second passenger, 54-year-old Gary Vandiver also from Richmond, was seriously hurt and flown to University Hospital.