Pilot Lost Control before Fatal Crash

A Tri-Coastal Airlines Metro crashed in a “nose-down, near-vertical attitude” near Paris, Tenn., while on a cargo flight from Dayton, Ohio, to Harlingen, Texas, on February 8. The sole-occupant pilot was killed. According to the NTSB, the aircraft was at 16,000 feet when the pilot requested two 360-degree turns and reported he had an “asymmetric fuel condition.” After obtaining a vector to the nearest airport and being cleared to descend, the pilot transmitted “Mayday” six times, after which radar and radio contact with the aircraft was lost.