Crab Bank plane crash victims identified; NTSB investigating

MOUNT PLEASANT — The Charleston County Coroner's Office today identified the two James Island men who died in a plane crash Wednesday night near Mount Pleasant.

Ralph Brown, 61, and James Powers, 76, died of head and body injuries in the crash near Crab Bank just before 7 p.m., Charleston County Deputy Coroner Judy Koelpin said. Their bodies were removed from the scene soon after the crash.

Brown was the pilot and Powers the passenger on a World War II-era Stearman biplane that crashed about 150 yards from shore in Charleston Harbor. Witnesses reported seeing the plane bank right and descend toward the water. Then they saw it pull up, roll over and plunge into the water, with the engine still running.

Federal authorities, meanwhile, have started collecting evidence for their investigation, but will not speculate on what may have caused the biplane to plummet into the waters of Charleston Harbor.

They hope to remove the wreckage by later today, said Luke Schiada, a senior National Transportation Safety Board air-safety investigator based in N.J. The Federal Aviation Administration was handling the scene for the NTSB.

A preliminary report should be available by the end of next week, though it will not include a probable cause for the accident.

The investigation will cover three main areas: the pilot, the airplane and eyewitness accounts. Authorities will examine pilot Ralph Brown's experience and his health; the airplane examination will include flight controls and engine maintenance history.

Authorities doubt there was any communication with air-traffic controllers around the time of the crash but will look into that as well, Schiada said.