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NTSB: Small plane crash that injured 3 was result of engine losing power

Plane crashes into marsh while departing St. Augustine airport

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Three people were injured in September when a single-engine plane crashed into marsh near a runway at Northeast Florida Regional Airport.

According to the preliminary crash report from the National Transportation Safety Board, the plane took off with all engine indicators showing “green.” It finds that as the plane reached an altitude of just 150 feet, its engine lost power and “wouldn’t hold altitude or airspeed.”

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The report found that two flight instructors were in the front seats with a passenger in the back. The other flight instructor took over the controls when the engine cut and managed to put the plane down on the runway, but when it struck the approach lightning system, it flipped into the marsh.

According to FHP, the pilot, a 67-year-old Ponte Vedra Beach man, was seriously injured, while the passengers — a 22-year-old West Palm Beach woman and a 23-year-old man from Holliston, Massachusetts — suffered minor injuries.