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Anthony Potts, 59, who lived at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, crash-landed a single-engine plane at approximately 8 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25 in the area of the 3600 block of Old Level Road in Havre de Grace.
Potts was identified as a US Army major general who recently retired from his role a Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), after nearly four decades of service.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, but was able to down the plane in a rural area and no other injuries or serious property damage was reported.
On Wednesday, Aug. 9, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released it’s preliminary report of the crash, with some new information released from the agency.
According to the NTSB, a mechanic at Harford County Airport in Churchville reported talking with Potts at approximately 6:50 p.m. on the day of the crash while he was conducting a pre-flight inspection of the plane.
He said that the point of his ill-fated flight was to fly in the airport pattern a few times in preparation of an upcoming cross-country flight.
Witnesses reported hearing the plane take off at approximately 7:05 p.m., the engine was running for approximately 45 seconds, then they said they could hear the impact of the crash. A second confirmed that there was no backfiring or sputtering of the engine.
The crash site was only about a half mile from the end of the runway. The report states that an annual inspection was completed days before the fatal crash, when a new propeller and interior were installed.
According to the Army, Potts served as a Program Executive Officer Soldier for years, where he “led the development, delivery and integration of body armor, helmets, sensors and weapons systems, leveraging a squad architecture enabling rapid delivery to the force to ensure a lethal overmatch against current and future threats.”
The veteran, who served a combat tour in Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, also made several deployments in Iraq in multiple roles for the government.
The NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are continuing to investigate the crash. A complete report is expected to be released in time.
Anyone interested in reading the preliminary NTSB report can download it here.
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