NTSB releases preliminary report on Johns Island plane crash

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently released a preliminary report connected to the investigation of a fatal March 25 plane crash on Johns Island.

The report includes “a preliminary review of air traffic control communications and radar-data.”

According to the report, the pilot of a Piper PA-28-161 was traveling from Conway, South Carolina to Palatka, Florida. As he approached Johns Island, an air traffic controller asked the pilot if he wanted to remain at his current altitude or climb higher. The pilot chose to “stay low to maintain visual flight rules ‘due to any clouds up ahead.'”

Minutes later, the report states that a controller “noticed the airplane started to turn right and descend.” The controller asked if the pilot was trying to avoid the clouds, at which point the pilot sent his chilling final correspondence: “Mayday Mayday… in the clouds… I’m going down.”

The plane crashed into the marsh about 1.6 miles from the Charleston Executive Airport. Witnesses reported hearing loud whining and popping sounds and seeing the plane “descending straight down, nose first, at a high rate of speed.”

The pilot was killed in the crash. He was identified by the Charleston County Coroner as 66-year-old Andrew Patterson of Cutler, Maine.

According to the report, Patterson held a “private pilot certificate for airplane single-engine land” and was last issued a Federal Aviation Administration third class medical certificate on March 3, 2022. He had 740 flight hours logged at the time.