Investigator: pilot tried roll before fatal crash

ELKIN, N.C. (AP) — A federal investigator says the pilot of a small plane that crashed at the Elkin airport tried a roll maneuver just before the plane crashed.

Sixty-four-year-old Lawrence Darrell Proctor of Greensboro died Sunday in the crash of the RV-4. The manufacturer’s Web site says the plane is constructed from a kit and is capable of aerobatics.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Tim Monville says the plane attempted a maneuver known as an aileron roll when it lost control, hit an embankment and caught fire.

Proctor had flown with two friends in separate planes to Elkin to visit other friends. The crash occurred as the planes left the airport.

Proctor’s daughter says her father had 40 years of experience flying airplanes.

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