A New Holland, Pa., man was the sole occupant of a single-engine plane that crashed in a wooded area near Plank Road and Stillhouse Creek Road in Albemarle County last week.
Virginia State Police identified the pilot, Kevin J. Esh, 30, who died in the crash when the Piper fixed-wing aircraft caught fire.
Esh had sent a distress call at 11:30 p.m. the night of Sept. 14, and he was directed to try to land at the Charlottesville Albemarle Airport.
The aircraft had taken off from Blue Ridge Regional Airport in Martinsville and was headed to Pennsylvania, according to the State Police.