A recent report provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on a fatal plane crash near Lowell City Airport last Monday reveals that both men aboard the doomed flight were qualified pilots. The Van's Aircraft RV-14A plane, which was assembled from a kit last year by the pilot, Kevin Lawrence, crashed into Whistle Stop Self Storage, resulting in a fire that claimed both the aircraft and the storage building, WZZM 13 reports.
Both Lawrence, 62, of Presque Isle, and passenger Paul Schalk, 68, of Rogers City, perished in the accident. Lawrence, also a holder of a repairman certificate for experimental aircraft, had built the two-seat airplane the previous year. The NTSB's preliminary findings, as reported by WWMT, do not indicate any weather concerns, with visibility standing at 10 miles at the time of the crash.
The journey began at Alpena County Regional Airport and included a stop at Oscoda/Wurtsmith Airport to pick up Schalk. They were headed to the Lowell City Airport, with Schalk interested in viewing another Van's Aircraft RV-6 airplane for sale, according to a passage from the NTSB report provided by WOODTV. The aircraft made a descending turn to the east before striking the storage building less than a half mile from the runway's end.
A witness, driving along Vergennes Street with his son, observed the aircraft in its fatal descent. He recounted to the investigators a haunting absence of distress from the plane, reporting "they did not observe any smoke or flames coming from the airplane," and he heard no "abnormal engine noises, such as sputtering or backfiring, only the sudden crash," per WWMT. The NTSB has classified this as a Class 3 investigation, which typically encompasses smaller scope plane crashes and is aimed at identifying not just the cause of a crash but any underlying issues that could inform and improve future air safety.
