<p>A pilot from Georgia caused the crash of his Army skydiving plane that took his life two years ago in Marana, according to a Federal Aviation Administration report.</p><p>The military plane collided with a civilian skydiving plane over Marana Northwest Regional Airport on March 15, 2002.</p><p>Chief Warrant Officer Lowell Timmons, 45, of Richmond Hill, Ga., who was flying a plane for the Golden Knights parachute team based in Fort Bragg, N.C., slammed into the ground. The pilot of the civilian plane managed to land his damaged plane safely.</p><p>Four civilian sky divers were aboard the Cessna when it was struck by the Army plane, but jumped to safety. Four Golden Knights parachutists had already jumped from military plane before the collision.</p><p>The FAA found that the single-engine Army UV-20A struck the single-engine Cessna 182 from above and behind, the Arizona Daily Star reported Sunday.</p><p>Even though an Army report blames the crash on the civilian planes pilot, the owner of the aircraft calls the military report a cover-up.</p><p>Theres no way that our plane could have backed up in midair to hit their plane, said Tony Frost, owner of Marana Skydiving Center at the airport.</p><p>Frost obtained the FAA report under the federal Freedom of Information Act. The newspaper got crash reports by the Army the same way.</p><p>One Army report was from the Army Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Ala. The other, which blamed the civilian pilot, was done by the outfit that the Golden Knights reported to _ the U.S. Army Recruiting Command.</p><p>Army officials had no comment. Martha Rudd, a spokeswoman for Army headquarters at the Pentagon, said Thursday a response could take several days.</p><p>Timmons had just finished learning to fly the Golden Knights plane three weeks before the crash, records show.</p><p>A 16-year Army veteran, he had more than 5,000 hours of flying time in fixed-wing aircraft but only 31 in the Army skydiving plane.</p><p>Moments before the accident, Timmons incorrectly reported his position, the FAA report said.</p><p>The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., which tested Timmons organs after his death, found drugs in his system. But the names of the drugs were blacked out in the report provided to the newspaper.</p><p>The drug test looked for 15 substances ranging from marijuana and cocaine to a common cough-syrup ingredient that can cause drowsiness.</p><p>Army rules forbid pilots to take drugs without a doctors approval, except for the occasional use of remedies such as aspirin or antacid. Army investigators who checked Timmons medical records found no sign he was under a doctors care.</p><p>Timmons widow, Teresa Timmons, had no comment on the investigations when contacted at her home in Georgia last week.</p><p>He was a great guy, a great man, a great soldier and a great husband who lost his life doing his job for his country, she said.</p><p>The Recruiting Commands investigation concluded that the Marana crash occurred because the Cessna pilot was crowding the Army plane.</p><p>The FAA report said just the opposite. The Cessna pilot was exercising proper communication and collision avoidance procedures when he was struck from above/behind, the FAA report says.</p><p>The FAA prepared its report for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is reviewing the crash because a civilian aircraft was involved. The NTSB hasnt issued a final report.</p><p>The Army Safety Center report didnt assign blame for the crash in the version released to the newspaper.</p><p>The newspaper is appealing the Armys decision to withhold the drug test results and other information. The appeal process could take up to two years, Army officials said.</p><p>The civilian pilot involved in the crash, 29-year-old David Genet, couldnt be reached for comment.</p>
