Report: Unlicensed pilot flew plane that crashed, killing 5 in Ga.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — An unlicensed pilot was flying a small home-built plane that crashed last week in rural south Georgia, killing all five people on board, after a witness saw the aircraft weaving up-and-down close to the treetops, federal investigators said in a preliminary report.

The report filed Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board does not identify a probable cause of the Sept. 16 crash near Alma, about 100 miles southwest of Savannah. It said an examination of the plane's engine and accessory parts showed no evidence of mechanical defects that may have contributed to the crash.

The NTSB identified the pilot as Waylon Boatright, a farmer who owned the four-seat RV-10 aircraft. He filed no flight plan before the plane took off from the small Bacon County airport about 6 miles from where he crashed about 3:40 a.m.

The RV-10 is a single-engine aircraft sold in kit form to be assembled by the buyer. The NTSB report said Boatright had been certified to build and repair the plane in December 2010, but he was not licensed to fly it.