Rob Carr/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — In the moments before the fatal crash, Roy Halladay’s aircraft performed low, fast maneuvers, flying as close as 75 feet to houses on the shore, a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board stated.
Halladay, 40, a retired Major League Baseball star pitcher, was killed in the Nov. 7 crash near Tampa, Florida.
GPS data indicates that at one point, the amphibious plane skimmed over a beach at 105 miles per hour at an altitude of 11 feet, according to the NTSB.
Before the crash, a witness told investigators Halladay performed a climb between 300 and 500 feet, turned and descended at 45 degrees. The plane hit the water, turning over the aircraft, the NTSB said.
The airplane came to rest in shallow water, upside down, with its front highly fragmented, the report indicates. A parachute system was found but had not been deployed.
The NTSB report said Halladay got the airplane on Oct. 10, 2017, and had logged 14.5 flight hours in the aircraft since.
Weather conditions were calm, warm and clear, according to the report.
Preliminary reports from the NTSB do not assign blame or conclude what caused accidents, but are instead written to release basic facts about them.
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