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Clarence Andrews stands with the single-engine plane that he constructed. Andrews, 82, took off in the plane Sunday from Collegedale Airport. He was found dead Tuesday still strapped in the crashed plane in a wooded area off the north end of the airport's runway.Photo by Contributed Photo /Chattanooga Times Free Press.
An 82-year-old pilot died from injuries he suffered in a plane crash earlier this month, according to a Hamilton County medical examiner's report released Wednesday.
Clarence K. Andrews Jr. took flight in a Cassutt Sport Racer on Dec. 2. He was found two days later in a wooded area behind a residence in the 4800 block of McDonald Road after his daughter reported him missing. When found, Andrews was still strapped inside his plane, which lay upside-down.
Andrews died from multiple blunt force injuries, the report states. There was no indication that Andrews had health problems that caused the crash. A toxicology report is pending in the case.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report that states Andrews did not file any flight plan before taking off.
His plane was found about a quarter-mile from Collegedale Municipal Airport from where he took off, according to the report.
The plane was damaged but still intact after it descended into a wooded area. The wreckage was removed and investigators planned to examine it at a later date, according to the report.
Andrews, who was a pilot and aircraft builder, served in the U.S. Air Force and began flying as a crewman on a B-36 during the Korean War. His Cassutt was one of two planes he built.
The board also is investigating a second area fatal plane crash that took place Dec. 18 in Calhoun, Ga. Roy Gardner Russom, 73, also crashed into a wooded area. The plane was destroyed in a fire.
