Preliminary reports have provided more detail on what caused a deadly small plane crash near Denver, Colorado earlier this month.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the Beech BE35 aircraft that crashed near Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colo. on Sept. 5 experienced an engine malfunction in the air. The outage led to the plane going down, resulting in the deaths of both occupants on board.
Perry “Matt” Feeney, 52, of Arvada, and Lee “Rob” Hill, 64, of Greenwood Village died in the crash. According to the NTSB, via KKTV, one of the pilots was providing training for the other, who was looking to purchase a similar aircraft.
“The pair took off around 5:45 a.m. and remained in their set traffic pattern. They performed several successful landings before the engine suddenly went silent,” writes the New York Post.
One of the pilots was receiving instruction when the engine went out, per the NTSB.
The final transmission from the pilot was to say the aircraft was “on the roll,” according to 9News. The plane did not respond when it was cleared.
Multiple nearby witnesses also reported they heard the plane’s engine stop running before it went down.
Crash initially reported as an explosion
The first report of the accident came in to South Metro Fire Rescue as an explosion, likely because of the fact it occurred near a bank of generators.
Responding firefighters found the small plane in flames when they arrived at the scene.
“These generators are very large, and it was a concern because the size of them,” said South Metro Fire Rescue spokesman Brian Willie. “They appear to be run off of diesel as well, so that exposure was a concern.”
What’s next?
The NTSB investigation is still ongoing, with a full report expected down the road.
The entire process may take months to complete, officials said.
