LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (WJW / AP) – We’re learning more details about a deadly plane crash in Arkansas last month that was heading to Ohio to help out with the Oakwood Village plant explosion.
The small, twin-engine plane crashed near Little Rock on Feb. 22, leaving five people dead.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report, which was released Friday, there were “changing/deteriorating weather conditions from the time of taxi, takeoff, and the accident.”
“A video surveillance camera at the 3M plant (near the crash) showed the airplane impact the ground in a right-wing-low, nose down attitude,” the agency’s investigation showed. “The video also showed heavy rain and blowing debris near the impact area.”
According to the report, the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport reported wind speed at 19 knots (35 kilometers per hour) with gusts to 27 knots (50 kilometers per hour) at the time of the crash.
“Just as the airplane went out of sight, the camera recorded a rising plume of smoke about 1-mile (1.6 kilometers) south of the departure end of runway 18,” according to the report. “Shortly after the plume of smoke, the camera appeared to shake from wind, and recorded blowing debris and heavy rain on the ramp where the camera was located.”
According to the report, “no pre-impact airframe anomalies were identified,” nor were any anomalies noted with the plane’s engines or propeller assemblies.
The report also notes the “airplane was about 300 pounds (136 kilograms) under its maximum gross takeoff weight at the time of takeoff.”
A final report is still many months away.
The plane heading to John Glenn Columbus International Airport was transporting environmental consultants who were responding to the deadly metal processing facility explosion in Oakwood Village, FOX 8’s sister station KARK reported last month.
As FOX 8 previous reported, the consulting firm, CTEH, responds to emergencies in industrial settings.
The day before, an explosion and fire at I. Schumann & Co.’s Alexander Road plant in Oakwood Village left one worker dead and over a dozen injured. A few weeks ago, the Ohio State Fire Marshal said they “do not believe the explosion was the result of a criminal act.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
