Report: Small plane flew low into power line in N.H. after control seized

CHARLESTOWN, N.H. (AP) — A small plane that crashed in New Hampshire, killing one man and injuring another, was flying low and descended into a power line after one of the men seized control of the aircraft from the other, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The men were flying in a Bailey Dragonfly, a single-engine, ultralight plane often used to tow gliders, on July 10. The plane crashed in Morningside Flight Park in Charlestown. The report said the pilot survived and that the other man, a pilot-rated passenger, died.

The pilot said both performed a preflight inspection, and then the passenger flew the airplane solo and performed three touch-and-go landings before stopping and moving to the rear seat, according to the report.

The pilot then sat in the front and performed one touch-and-go and one full stop landing.

At one point, the plane was at an estimated altitude of 400 feet and the passenger shook the control stick “violently” and yelled “something about ‘power,'” according to the report. He shook the controls again and yelled “my airplane” and assumed control of the plane.

During a turn, the engine “lost partial power,” the plane banked “hard” to the left, pitched nose down and went into a power line, the report said.

The report didn’t name the men. Police identified the man who died as Paul Harrison, 54, of Ryegate, Vermont. The other man was identified as Ilya Rivkin, 47, of Windham, Maine.

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