A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board says last month's plane crash in McKinney that killed two people and injured a third was due to engine failure.
The NTSB report said that just before 10:30 a.m. on June 27, a 1980 Cessna 414A departing McKinney National Airport rolled upside down and crashed into a gravel mound less than a mile from the runway.
The Texas DPS identified the two people killed in the crash as 67-year-old pilot Michael Lewis of Forney and 53-year-old Gustavo Moreno of Royse City. The crash survivor, identified by family Friday to NBC 5 as Randy Williams, was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. There were no injuries on the ground.
The NTSB said the flight's purpose was to check the installation of new avionics equipment, and the passengers on board were employees of the facility that installed the equipment.
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According to the preliminary report, the pilot reported losing the left engine shortly after takeoff. Air traffic control told the pilot to turn right, but there was no immediate response. The NTSB said the pilot radioed they were turning left, and ATC cleared them to land from any direction needed.
A witness told the NTSB they heard the plane take off and that the engine sound quickly went "from a loud sound to a bogged sound" that "sounded like an engine failure." The witness said he went outside and saw the airplane in a left yaw with its landing gear extended and that it began to slow down as it neared the departure end of runway 18.
"The airplane then rolled left and upside down and dove into the ground," the witness said.
The NTSB said flight data showed the plane's speed at 99 knots, which then decreased to 65 knots, increased back to 70 knots, and crashed into a gravel mound about seven-tenths of a mile from the runway.
According to the FAA registry, the aircraft was owned by Hunger Relief Ministries in Forney. Benjamin Lewis, the pilot's son, told NBC 5 that his father was an oil and gas executive who volunteered to fly nearly 150 missions transporting patients to medical treatment for free.
Anyone who witnessed the accident or those who have surveillance video or other information that could be relevant to the investigation is asked to contact the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov.
