OAK HILL, Fla. – A 73-year-old Venice man died after the single-engine airplane he was piloting crashed into a tree Tuesday.
Charles Alban had traded his plane for an experimental, homemade Monoplane earlier that day, according to a release from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
[TRENDING: WATCH AGAIN: NASA’s mega moon rocket lifts off from Florida coast despite hiccups | ‘He took something so precious:’ Orlando shooting survivor grieves loss of daughter, 3 family members | Become a News 6 Insider]
Witnesses told deputies Alban taxied the plane around the Blue Ridge Flightpark Airport several times before he attempted to fly home to Venice at around 3:35 p.m., Tuesday afternoon.
As he tried to leave the airstrip, the plane was not able to climb into the air and veered left, hitting the tree in front of a home at 1779 Maytown Road, according to the release.
Alban was transported to a hospital, where he later died.
Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies investigated the plane and runway and were not able to find anything that could have caused the plane to go off course.
The investigation was turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.