The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) has released its report on a fatal plane crash in Bossier Parish that left the plane’s young pilot and his passenger dead.
The small plane crashed Dec. 16, 2020, on property belonging to Barksdale Air Force Base (BAFB). Jet Montgomery, 18, the pilot, and his passenger, Jon Cole Harris, 19, were pronounced dead at the scene.
The report notes that Montgomery was issued a local pattern solo endorsement Nov. 21, 2020, with limitations that he was not to fly without first calling the CFI to review weather conditions and other data. Also of note, the solo pattern endorsement does not allow pilots to carry passengers. The NTSB report states Montgomery did not contact CFI before takeoff to check weather conditions.
The report says Montgomery took off from Shreveport Downtown Airport (DTN) during the night and flew an irregular flight path to the east over BAFB. Shreveport air traffic control then contacted BAFB’s tower controller and told him there was a plane flying near the base. The tower controller says he turned up the runway lights to full brightness and tried to contact the plane on the radio, but got no response.