Updated, August 7
New details from a federal investigation into the fatal July crash landing at Martha’s Vineyard Airport finds that the pilot “blacked out” after aborting a landing.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released preliminary findings of the accident on Wednesday, August 2.
NTSB’s preliminary report finds that the pilot, 79-year-old Randolph Bonnist of Norwalk, Conn, had just performed a “go-around maneuver” — a maneuver used to abort a landing — before lining up another approach for the Vineyard airport runway. It was at this time that Bonnist experienced a medical emergency.
The passenger, believed to be Randolph’s wife Robin Bonnist, assumed the flight controls and maneuvered a “gear-up” landing, meaning the landing gear wasn’t fully engaged.
Federal investigators say that the airplane “bounced several times after touchdown then came to rest upright with the left wing fractured.” Robin Bonnist experienced only minor injuries. The passenger told investigators that there were “no mechanical issues whatsoever” that would have caused an accident.
Randolph Bonnist was taken to a Boston-area hospital before he died a few days later.
The NTSB report also says that Bonnist had recently cleared a medical check. “His most recent FAA third class medical certificate was issued June 1, 2023,” the report reads. “Previously, the pilot had been granted a third class, special issuance medical certificate which required that the pilot supply extensive documentation of his health conditions as requested by the FAA.”
Investigators say that the Piper PA-46-500TP airplane was substantially damaged and was not retained. The aircraft’s left wing snapped in half upon impact.
This post has been updated to accurately reflect the age of the pilot.
it wasn’t a “fatal plane crash”: both husband-and-wife survived the emergency crash landing heroically managed by the wife with radio assistance.
Sadly, the husband died later of unrelated pre-existing conditions unrelated to the crash which caused him to black out, as I understand it.
My condolences to his surviving wife and family.
Would the pilot be dead if had not crashed. Did the crash exacerbate his pre-existing conditions.
If a plane crashes with fifty people and thirty are declared deceased on the runway and the twenty with vital signs are taken to the hospital and all die how many plane crash fatalities would that be?
I don’t think this could in any way be considered to be a fatal crash.
The person that died days later did not succumb to any injuries from the crash–
But I guess throwing that word in there grabs the headline..
It was also reported that he was 79.
Did the plane crash exacerbate his existing conditions?
He no doubt found it stressful.
His death was close coupled.
His family will relate his death to the crash.
This newspaper reported the pilot was 80.
This newspaper lies, why do you read it?
hey Don..i am officially stalking you on here! lol..no..well kinda. so, what you said about the ocean producing more CO2 than the atmosphere is true. however, our use of fossil fuels is making what WAS a 50/50 balance before the industrial revolution, very UNbalanced. the oceans are having to absorb about 48% of our atmosphere’s CO2 because there is nowhere else to go. it is processed and eventually becomes a carbon “sink”, in very deep waters. the ocean IS what is keeping us alive. it provides 50% of our O2. plants, of course are important. but if there is an epic fail on either end of the food chain spectrum within the ocean, the result would be catastrophic. phytoplankton going extinct would cause the same reaction as an apex predator, such as a white shark, going extinct. everything collapses, the ocean dies, and obviously we do as well. i do hope that people are starting to realize this is a reality. we need to embrace the ocean and its inhabitants, because this is our life line. in conclusion, phytoplankton is one of the most important photosynthesizers in the sea. but we need EVERYTHING in working order, because eventually we WILL pollute and corrupt the ocean to the point of no return. that’s what humans do. END SPECIESISM!! we are no better than any other living creature on earth. more info: https://sheshark.org
I am much better than a virus, but not by that much.
Your alarmist attitude is alarming.
Well said…!
More people should know and comprehend that tidal marshes, bogs, streams, absolutely all bodies of water is life.
Start teaching this in schools
Azi– I totally agree with you about everything you just said. Everything you say is true.
Thanks for saying it, especially the part about the ocean absorbing the huge amounts of carbon we are producing. That’s why I think the windfarms are the better of the evils.
The windfarms may disturb some local wildlife, but they do not pose a catastrophic threat to everything in the ocean.
I think that is the danger we actually face– if we have a catastrophic collapse of life in the ocean, we well suffocate due to lack of oxygen.
And please, take the comment about fish breathing oxygen as I intended it. A tongue in cheek
poke. I meant no animosity.
I think your dedication to marine environments is quite impressive.
Thanks.
This is all well and good, but what does it have to do with a plane crash at the airport?
Is it possible that a couple of these posts have nothing to do with the unfortunate demise of the pilot? Or am I just not seeing the point?
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