CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report on a March 17 plane crash that killed a pilot at Spirit of St. Louis Airport.
The pilot, 65-year-old Edward Ruhbeck of St. Louis, took off at 12:21 a.m. in an Aero Commander 500 B and crashed at 12:23. The airport tower is not staffed from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m., and the airport did not become aware of the crash until around 3 a.m.
According to the preliminary NTSB report, aircraft surveillance technology indicated the plane took off from a runway at 12:21:51 and quickly entered a modified right traffic pattern for the departure runway, with altitudes varying from 500 feet to 850 feet…