Victims of Albany airport crash identified

ALBANY — Doug Brazy, a safety inspector for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), during a news conference Sunday afternoon at Southwest Georgia Regional Airport, outlined initial steps being taken by the agency after three people died in a plane crash Saturday.

The three people who died in the crash are listed by the Albany Police Department as David Britt Knight, 40; Brittany Kerfoot, 30, and Kevin Coalson, 49. Coalson is a former trooper with the Georgia State Patrol where he served as a helicopter pilot. Kerfoot was a teacher at Lake Park Elementary School and Knight was a local businessman.

Brazy said he and investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are working to determine a probable cause for the accident, although the length of time to arrive at a conclusion is typically around 12 months.

Various factors will ultimately be examined and documented, Brazy said, including the aircraft itself, the engine systems, marks on the ground, weather, the flight crew and their experience level.

According to Brazy, the crashed airplane, a 2002 Lancair IV equipped with four seats and a single turbo prop engine, will be removed from the airport runway Monday and transported to a site in Griffin for further examination. The Lancair IV is typically built from a kit, Brazy said, and is certified as experimental by the FAA.

“We know the airplane departed about 2 p.m. on Runway 22 yesterday (Saturday) for a local flight. I’m told that airport video shows that it reached “treetop level before it began to descend.”

Brazy said investigators are initially focusing on “perishable” evidence, or evidence which is vulnerable to change by wind, rain or landscaping. In addition, a map of the crash site is being constructed to show where parts of the airplane were found following the accident.

Anyone who saw or heard the airplane on the the day of the accident or know of anyone who did is asked to call NTSB at 1-844-373-9922 or write to WITNESS at NTSB.gov.

“Witness accounts are perishable because now is time people remember and also when they’re more willing to help,” Brazy said.