ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Two people killed Tuesday in a fiery plane crash in St. Johns County were taking part in what’s known as an introduction flight before the plane went down, federal investigators said Wednesday.
The pair were a flight instructor and someone who had expressed an interest in flying, said Pete Wentz, an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash.
“It’s an introduction flight, where an individual would come in and say, ‘I’m interested in flying, I don’t know if I want to pursue this or not,’” Wentz said Wednesday. “And it’s usually about a half-hour flight, and they go up with an instructor and see if they’d like to fly.”
The single-engine Cessna 152 crashed into the tarmac at Northeast Florida Regional Airport, located just north of St. Augustine, about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to the flight-tracking website FlightAware, the plane took off from the airport about 1:46 p.m. By 2:26 p.m., radar was tracking the plane at 700 feet, traveling at a speed of 87 miles per hour.
Both people on board were killed. Neither of their identities has been released.
It’s unclear what caused the plane to crash, or who had control of the aircraft when it went down.
“We started the investigation today and we’ll be looking into three areas,” Wentz said. “We look into the pilot, into the aircraft and into the environment.”
Among other things, investigators will review the pilot’s ratings, medical certificate and training. Wentz said they’ll also review logbooks, maintenance records, weather and other factors involved.
Wentz wasn’t aware of any distress calls received by the air traffic control tower before the plane crashed but acknowledged that investigators will be looking into that as part of their efforts.
The aircraft’s wreckage has been removed from the airport and relocated to a secure location nearby, he said, where investigators will examine its engine and airframe in hopes of determining what happened.
The NTSB’s investigations is expected to take 12-14 months to complete, Wentz said. But the agency expects to release a preliminary report on the crash within the next 14 days.
Anyone with information that could be helpful to the investigation is asked to email the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov or call 202-314-6001.
A man who called 911 to report the crash said he watched it unfold. Dylan Cochran said he saw the plane approaching the airport when it started to wobble. Then, Cochran said, the plane slammed into the runway, skidding for 20 feet before bursting into flames.
“It started breaking apart,” Cochran recalled. “Wheels everywhere. You saw pieces of it breaking up.”
The crash marks the third plane crash in Northeast Florida in two weeks, and the fourth aircraft crash in three months.
Earlier this month, an 18-year-old student pilot and her flight instructor died when a Cessna 150 crashed into the St. Marys River.
On Sunday, June 27, a man in his 60s died during a flight in an ultralight aircraft from Craig Airport. The aircraft crashed on a golf course in the 1700 block of Monument Road.
In April, three people were killed when a Beechcraft Musketeer crashed in a wooded area in Middleburg. These recent crashes are still under investigation.
