OSHKOSH – A plane crash that claimed the lives of two people during the 2023 EAA AirVenture convention is being attributed to pilot error.
A National Transportation Safety Board report determined “the pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering” as the probable cause of a plane crash into Lake Winnebago that resulted in the death of pilot Devyn Reiley and Zach Colliemoreno.
“Examination of the airplane, engine, and related systems did not reveal any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation,” the NTSB wrote in its final investigation report of the incident.
“Based on the available information, the pilot likely failed to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering and exceeded the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an inadvertent aerodynamic stall/spin.”
Devyn Reiley and Zach Colliemoreno died in 2023 when their plane crashed into Lake Winnebago after leaving EAA AirVenture.
NTSB released its final investigation report into the incident two years after 30-year-old Reiley and Colliemoreno, 20, died when a North American AT-6D crashed into Lake Winnebago after leaving Wittman Regional Airport around 8:57 a.m. July 29, 2023.
According to the report, the plane leveled off at 3,900 feet and made a right turn followed by a left turn before rapidly descending into the lake.
The report stated that the airplane’s calibrated air speed was about 110 mph before dropping to as slow as 87 mph while executing those turns.
The airplane went below its accelerated stall speed of 89 mph, according to the calculated load factor.
The NTSB said based on the calculated load factor the airplane’s accelerated stall speed would have been about 89 mph.
“Performance calculations based on ADS-B and winds aloft data showed that, during the turns, the airplane decelerated, and the calculated load factor increased,” the report stated.
“The airplane slowed to a speed consistent with its published accelerated stall speed, then entered a rapid descent.”
The report also referenced a witness who was in a boat on the lake and said the airplane was in a flat spin to the right before it hit the water.
The plane broke into pieces and sat at the bottom of the lake under 20 feet of water, according to the NTSB report.
Reiley co-founded the Texas Warbird Museum and was a part of two panel discussions during AirVenture 2023.
An experienced pilot who co-founded the Texas Warbird Museum, Reiley, the daughter of two-time Super Bowl champion Bruce Collie, was reportedly part of two panel discussions at that year’s AirVenture.
The presentation was titled “WASP in Their Own Words” and dealt with the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, a civilian women’s pilot association program in World War II.
The final report said Reiley had more than 687 hours of flight experience at the time of the crash, including 33 hours in the plane she flew.
A midair collision between a helicopter and gyrocopter also claimed the lives of two other people at AirVenture 2023.
That crash was one of two fatal crashes at the 2023 AirVenture convention, which also saw 69-year-old Mark Peterson of Foley, Alabama, and 72-year-old Thomas Volz, of Amelia, Ohio, die after a helicopter and gyrocopter collided midair.
Another three unexpected forced landings occurred during that year’s fly-in convention.
In 2024, two people died when a plane crashed in a farm field near Old Knapp Road and Nekimi Avenue, 2 miles south of Wittman Field.
No reported plane crashes occurred in the area during the 2025 AirVenture, although a small jet crashed in western Minnesota en route to Oshkosh July 21, killing one of two people on board.