Federal investigators say a pilot reported losing engine power before a small plane crashed in Virginia.
Brian Forrest Hall of Pittsburgh was the only person on the single-engine plane when it crashed at about 11:30 a.m. Sunday in the George Washington National Forest, near the Augusta-Rockingham County line.
Hall, 50, died in the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the accident Wednesday.
According to the report, Hall declared an emergency two minutes after telling an air traffic controller that the plane was climbing from 9,000 feet to 10,500 feet. Hall said the plane's engine lost power.
When given vectors to Bridgewater Airpark, Hall said there was a ridgeline that the plane couldn't clear.
State police say the 1975 fixed-wing Beechcraft was traveling from Wilmington, N.C., to the Harrisonburg area when it crashed.
