A preliminary report on last month’s deadly plane crash in St. Augustine suggests an in-flight issue occurred moments before the plane went down.
The single-engine Cessna 152 took off from Northeast Florida Regional Airport about 1:45 p.m. June 29, circled above St. Augustine and flew about 20 miles up the coast before returning to the airport. It crashed into the runway about 2:30 p.m. and caught fire, killing both people on board.
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The report released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board says a witness saw the plane approaching the runway about 100 feet in the air and noticed its wings were swaying up and down about a foot in either direction.
The witness told federal investigators the plane’s nose was pointed upward before it abruptly pitched down at a 45-degree angle and slammed into the runway. Flames engulfed the plane as it skidded about 200 feet before coming to a stop.
Killed in the crash were a flight instructor and a prospective student pilot who were on what the NTSB described as an “introduction flight.”
It’s unclear what caused the plane to crash.
According to the NTSB, all the pieces of the aircraft were recovered from the scene, where investigators also found evidence indicating the propeller and left wing made impact first, followed by the nose wheel.
After hauling the wreckage to a secure location offsite, investigators found much of the plane had been consumed by the flames, including most of the cockpit, cabin and instrument panel, along with the right wing, wing support structure, tail section and fuel lines in the fuselage.
Left intact were the fuel tank, empennage, left horizontal stabilizer and elevator, as well as the vertical stabilizer and rudder.
Investigators found no debris or water in the roughly 2.5 gallons of fuel drained from the fuel tank. They also examined the aircraft’s engine and found no anomalies inside its four cylinders.
The report released Wednesday only contained the NTSB’s preliminary findings. The investigation is expected to take 12-14 months to complete and will entail a review of three key factors: the pilot, the aircraft and the environment.