Preliminary plane crash report

The National Transportation Safety Board has published a preliminary report saying an “in-flight breakup” preceded the crash of a small plane October 2 near Westminster.  The crash killed the pilot and three passengers who were headed to Clemson for that weekend’s game with Notre Dame.  The NTSB quotes preliminary information provided by the FAA that, at six thousand feet altitude, the plane began an approach to the Oconee Regional Airport and the pilot was cleared for the approach.  But the report says, “The controller subsequently queried the pilot when he did not report inbound on the approach, no response was received.  Radar contact was lost over Lake Hartwell, on the Georgia-South Carolina border, about 2,200 feet msl.”  The pilot, 71-year old Charles D. Smith, held a private pilot certificate with single engine land and instrument ratings.  He had reported 1,448 hours total flight time on his most recent applications for an FAA third-class medical certificate, dated October 17, 2013.  The main wreckage was found inverted in a wooded area, about 50 yards north of the lake shoreline.  Damage to trees indicated a near-vertical descent angle at impact. There was no fire.  The main wreckage consisted of the cabin, enginer, cockpit, propeller, left wing, and the inboard half of the right wing.  About 10% of the sections were recovered near the water.  At the time of the report released last weekend, the outboard portion of the right wing and the remainder of the plane’s sections had not been located.